MR : Bloodlust
by heaven-angel-15
Summary: /FAXNESS/ Fang develops an irresistable attraction to Max one night to the point where he could be dangerous. What happens if Max suddenly gets it too?
1. Is Fang Dying ! ?

HEY GUYS!!

It's Hiwatari-Angel-15 here!! For those of you who don't know me, call me CK!!

(Oh! And for those of you who visit the MR website, I'm GuardianAngel15 on there. But please, call me CK.)

Just a few quick notes before the fic starts:

(1) This takes pace after MR 2, but before MR 3. And because of that,

(2) There are MR 2 spoilers in here. Just so ya know, and have been warned.

I hope you all like it!

_-- Love from, CK _

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**MR : BLOODLUST**

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Chapter 1

"Ahh! Gazzy!!" I shrieked.

The blonde eight year-old smiled sheepishly up at me, his blue eyes-alight with mischief.

"Sorry Max, I couldn't hold it in" he admitted in a sweet voice.

The rest of the flock plugged their noses and made noises of disgust after Gazzy had finished gracing us with his—well, how he got the name "Gasman."

The flock and I had settled down for the night. We were all tired from flying all day, not to mention we were forced to kick some Eraser You know the 'a' word I'm politely implying here after a small group of them tried chasing us through the sky.

Gee, that was fun… (note my happy sarcasm)

Luckily, we'd found this motel just off the coast. It was a decent motel, but unfortunately (according to the receptionist) they didn't have six rooms available for us "kids."

Translation : No adults no beds.

Thankfully after a short discussion (and a little help from Angel's physic-mumbo-jumbo) the receptionist didn't give us a problem about reserving the six of us rooms.

"Okay guys" I called, "we've got nice, warm beds tonight. But we're gonna have to split up a little."

We managed to get three rooms booked from the receptionist. It turns out she was telling the truth—they only had 4 rooms open and we were forced to book three of the four.

"Ooh!" Nudge suddenly exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Max! Can I sleep with Angel!? You know, it'd be just like before! Back when we were living at home an Angel and I used to share a room! Oh my gosh!! I loved sleeping with another girl in the room! It was like having a sleepover every night! But so much more fun and a lot better too, because ya know I've never been to a sleepover before, but Angel was so sweet and--"

"Alright Nudge!" I said loud enough so she could hear me clearly. "You can sleep with Angel tonight. Is that okay with you?" I asked turning to look at Angel.

Angel smiled happily, holding a squirming Total in her arms.

"That's great! I like sleeping with Nudge, but can Total stay with us too?" she asked, her blue eyes hopeful.

I turned to Nudge for her opinion.

"I don't mind" Nudge quickly said, "but can Total sleep with you Angel? It's icky when he licks my face, and I don't wanna have him do that to me tomorrow morning" Nudge said pulling a face that made Angel giggle.

Total huffed in Angel's arms. "I'll have you know, that my breath is rather fresh in the morning, thank you very much" he protested. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Alright, so you two can have Room 265, but remember--nothing suspicious. We want to blend as much as possible, okay?" I reminded them as I dropped a gold key into Nudge's hand.

"Ok-ay" they chorused boredly. I let out a soft sigh at their reactions to my warning.  
How many times had I told them that before? Too many, apparently.

"Alright…." I began uncertainly. "So, since Nudge and Angel are sharing, we're gonna have to pair up amongst the four of us…." I trailed off.

Iggy walked up and snatched a key out of my hand.

"Thanks" he said grinning. "Gazzy come on, let's go check out our room!"

Gazzy's eyes lit up and he grabbed Iggy's hand as he directed him towards then door.

"Cool! Do you think they'll have any thing we can use to make some more bombs? I'm running short…"

"Oh don't worry, we'll find something…" Iggy promised.

I stared at the two of them dumbstruck and stuttered for words.

"Uh…I uh, you—no blowing up anything!" I warned, and Iggy and Gazzy shut the door in my face.

_Guess that leaves me and Fang …_ I told myself.

I let out a soft sigh and ran a hand through my hair in frustration. I felt a strong, warm hand on my shoulder and instantly recognized it as Fang's. I turned to see him looking at me; his dark eyes alight with amusement.

"Looks like were rooming together" he said calmly, but his eyes were bright with withheld laughter. I frowned at him as he took the remaining key from my hand.

_Great, so now Fang's making fun of me…_

_Stay away from Fang._

I did a double take at hearing my Voice suddenly speak.

_What? Why?_ I asked it. Of course my freaky-Voice chose to show up when I really didn't need it….

_Stay away from Fang,_the Voice repeated. _A lot has changed about him because of your actions, and you're putting yourself at risk by getting to close to him._

_Excuse me? My actions? What is that supposed to mean?!_

_Without knowing it, you've put yourself in danger because of him,__and the same goes for him to you. Listen Max, it is critical that you stay away from Fang for a while. I'm only trying to protect you…_

I gave an un-ladylike snort.

_Right, so says the Voice that…that…_ I desperately tried to think of a time when the Voice had put me in danger. _Uhh…_

_I'm here to help you Max… stay away from Fang…_

Mentally growling, I was distracted by someone waving their hand in front of my face.

I almost gasped but stopped myself just in time. Fang was leaning into me, his hand waving over my face to try and grab my attention.

…But did he really have to be so close?

I could see my faint reflection in his eyes and our noses were almost touching. I never noticed… how entrancing Fang's eyes were…a deep, dark, chocolate brown….or how his lips were --

_No! Bad, Max! Bad!_ I quickly scolded myself before my thoughts went too far.

I felt a blush creeping onto my cheeks and quickly turned away so Fang wouldn't see.

"Uhh…okay, let's get some sleep" I said quickly, brushing past Fang into the motel room.

The room was a warm, slightly pale orange colour, but it had a bathroom, a window and small desk in it—all of which could be used as escape rotes and/or held things to throw at Erasers in case of an attack.

I heard Fang swear behind me and I looked at him in surprise. He looked at me stiffly for a moment before nodding his head towards the centre of the room.

Quickly, I looked to the centre of the room preparing to fight, but was surprised to see a bed there.

_Ok-ay…a bed…nothing dangerous about that…_ I thought in confusion

_That's the problem, Max…_my Voice hissed.

_What? The bed?!_ I replied in confusion, that everyone else but me found the bed to be intimidating.

_Yes, Max…the one and only, double bed in the room which is usually reserved for couples…_ it hissed mockingly at me.

My face flushed and I felt my heart skip a beat.

Fang and I were going to have to share a bed.

I felt myself lightly blush and I tried to mentally glare at my Voice.

_Why couldn't you have just told me straight out that Fang and I were going to be sharing a bed?!_

_You need to learn to think for yourself …_

_Gre-eat. The Voice in my head tells me to listen to myself. Now if I could only get rid of it, then that wouldn't be a problem…_

"Max?"

I turned to see Fang standing next to our open motel door. He shot me a look I couldn't place, before he walked over and raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"The Voice inside your head is talking to you again, isn't it?" he stated. I kept quiet for a moment before answering.

"Yeah…" I trailed off awkwardly.

I looked around the room again, hoping that maybe another bed would fall through the roof and save me the awkward experience of having to sleep with Fang.

Fang has always been like a brother to me, and he always will be. It's just that…well, lately…

_You've developed feelings for him, haven't you?_ the Voice asked. I felt my face flush at the question

_No!_ I quickly denied.

The Voice chuckled irritatingly inside my head.

_You can't deny it, Max. You've developed feelings for Fang…but I'm warning you for the last time, you must STAY AWAY FROM FANG. You are putting yourself in huge amounts of danger right now!_

_And exactly how am I doing that oh-smart-assed-one?_ I shot at my Voice.

_You unknowingly upset the delicate chemical balance within a human-avian bloodline, Max! You're a female and Fang is a male! When you donated blood to him, you --_

Suddenly my Voice stopped speaking altogether and I was left standing alone in shock. Nothing but silence filled my ears for a few moments as I tried to let everything my Voice had just told me sink in.

_Did I do something horrible to Fang when I gave him some of my blood?_ I wondered.

_What if I've done something really bad to him? What if he starts turning into an Eraser like me?_

I felt my heart pounding in my ears as panic started to clutch at my chest.

…_What if Fang is dying? _

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So...whatcha think?? (X-P)

PLEASE REVIEW!!


	2. Fang's Kiss

Fang dying!? _--gasp!--_ the horror!! LOL.

Anyways, continue reading...

_-- Love from, CK _

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Chapter 2

…What if Fang is dying?

I could have sworn that my heart skipped a beat and that the room had suddenly turned cold.

_No! Don't even go there, Max!_ I warned myself. _Fang will be fine! It's just that stupid Voice in your head getting to you! Fang. Is. Fine!!_

A warm, strong hand was on my shoulder and I turned to see Fang looking at me anxiously.

"Max? Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and nodded at him.

"I'm fine. Just a little…irritated at my Voice. But I'm okay…I just need some sleep…" I told him as calmly as I could.

He looked at me quizzically and I was forced to look away. Fang always knew when I was lying, and I would bet my wings that he knew that I was lying right now.

"Alright…" he said, "But if there's anything else, you know I'm always here to listen."

I had to stop myself from laughing bitterly. Here I was, stressing over something I had apparently done to Fang, and he was the one trying to comfort me.

"…I know" managed to say softly. Not wanting to spend another minute in this awkward moment, I walked over to small bathroom to change, deciding that there was no chance of me escaping sleeping with Fang.

After a few minutes, I walked out of the bathroom in my T-shirt and boxers running a comb through my hair. (Real girls wear men's underwear!...well, at least mutant girls do…)

I saw Fang was over by the window and felt my heart give a strange jump when I saw that he was decent enough to wear a shirt to bed. Thank God for chivalry…or shirts, whatever.

_I bet you'd rather see him without a shirt…_my Voice taunted.

_Don't go there!_ I warned and flopped onto the bed and felt my head sink into the pillows.

Ahh…the luxuries of life.

Fang walked nervously over to the bed and he slid into bed beside me. We turned off the lights and both sat there silently for a moment, neither one of us knowing what to do or say.

"G'night Max" Fang quietly whispered, and I felt myself relax at his calm tone.

"G'night Fang" I muttered back and I heard him shifting behind me on the other side of the bed.

I buried my face into the pillows, trying to lull myself to sleep, but my Voice's words were still ringing in my ears from only a few minutes ago. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore--

"Fang?" I quietly whispered, hoping he wasn't asleep. His eyes shot open, ready and alert and I let out a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong?' he asked. I winced at how he already knew something was wrong.

Strike one. 

I swear, that Fang is worse than Angel at reading my mind sometimes….

"I just wanted to know if you…" I took a deep breath. "…if you've been feeling okay this last little while…"

I heard Fang suddenly sit up behind me and a light was immediately flicked on.

"Is that what's been bothering you?" he asked me. I swallowed audibly and muttered a hesitant and quiet 'maybe...'

"..Does this have anything to do with the Voice in your head?" he continued cautiously.

Damn it!... I thought.

Strike Two.

"Yeah…" I said quietly

I heard him shift and I could suddenly feel his warmth around me. I refused to turn around and look at him, but I could feel his harsh gaze on my back.

"And your Voice told you something...about me" he continued on, and I fidgeted nervously in the bed.

"…something that's made you worried about me…" he stated.

Strike Three.

"Yeah…"

"Max" he said, his voice firmer than before. "Tell me what's going on—"

"It's nothing" I quickly said.

"Max!"

"Seriously, it's--

"Now!" he barked at me and I sighed in defeat.

"It's just…I need to know if you've been feeling okay and then I'll tell you" I said.

_Yes! Atta girl, Max!_

Fang shot me a 'you-better-not-be-trying-to-trick-me-because-I-will-get-it-out-of-you-in-the-end' look (one of his many looks I've learned to recognize.)

I finally worked up enough courage to turn around and face Fang, but mentally hit myself when I saw how Fang was staring at me intently.

My stomach jumped and I felt my heartbeat speed up as he continued to frown and stare at me intently. It would've been a bit unnerving if he didn't look so damn hot when he did it --

_No! Bad Max!! STOP IT!_

I stiffened and shook my head at where my thoughts were going and cleared my throat, trying to avoid drooling on the pillows.

"So...uhh, how have you been feeling?' I asked cautiously.

"Fine" Fang responded curtly. "But I've still been having those weird heat flashes you said you had before you gained a new power. Other than that, I'm fine... now tell me why you're worried" he ordered me.

"So you've still been getting those heat things like I had?"

"Yeah, now talk—"

"I just…." I took a deep breath before continuing. "My Voice said that I did something to you when I gave you my blood….that I've…. 'upset'…. your chemical balance… or something like that…"

I looked to Fang expectantly and he raised an eyebrow. We sat there in silence for a moment before he spoke.

"That's it?"

My eyes widened at him.

"What do you mean that's it? Yeah, that's it! I wasn't sure if I'd done something freaky to you!"

"Max…" he warned, as if scolding a child. "I'm fine. You're starting to listen to that Voice in your head too much. It's okay…I'm here and there's nothing wrong with me. You gave me blood how long ago? Two months, maybe. And I'm still here, with nothing wrong with me."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. I hate it when Fang knows exactly what to say.

"But you said… you were still getting those heat flashes…" I said quietly, feeling stupid for being so worried. "And you haven't developed any new skills yet…"

Fang shrugged lightly.

"…maybe I'm going through Menopause" he teased.

I let out a loud, relieved laugh and couldn't help but grin. "Could be..." I replied.

Fang shot me rare smile, and I felt joy build in my stomach. I almost giggled in happiness—and I do not giggle.

_Gods...he looks so handsome when he does that…_

_Not again! Max! Snap out of it!_

I felt myself blush in embarrassment at how girlish I was acting, and quickly averted my eyes from Fang.

"Okay….If you're sure" I said.

"I'm sure" he instantly told me. I shot him a small grin and slid back under the blankets.

"Sorry I worried you" I told him awkwardly. He shook his head and slid in to the other side of the bed. "I rather you tell me that then have you be your normal-stubborn self and hide it".

I gave him a look of mock surprise.

"I am not stubborn!" I protested, pretending to be outraged. Fang rolled his eyes at me.

"Ri-ight…G'night Max" he said.

"G'night Fang."

He stacked his fist on top of mine and we both rolled over to try and before I had time to say thanks to Fang, I was asleep.

A soft sound woke me up. My eyes quickly flew open, alert and tense, but all I heard was the sound of my own heartbeat and Fang's heavy breathing behind me.

_Wait…_ I thought distantly.

_Fang never breaths that heavy…_

I stopped myself from gasping but quickly turned, preparing to meet an Eraser at my back, but instead I found myself eyeing Fang worriedly.

He was in pain.

At least that's the way it looked—his eyes were screwed shut, his mouth was parted and his breathing was heavy. He was gripping the sheets tightly and I could see (even in this hot summer weather) that he was sweating more than he should have been.

He was shifting back and forth uncomfortably in the bed and every few seconds he would scrunch up his face and make a small noise that almost resembled a weak growl.

He's having as nightmare I realised in shock.

Without thinking, I threw my arm across him and tried to shake him awake.

"Fang?" I called out softly, hearing him groan in pain. "Fang!" I called again, hoping he would wake up and save me from having a heart attack over him.

"FANG!"

His eyes snapped open and he gasped in surprise. I heard him take a deep breath before trying to catch his breath, and I sat beside him, worry building in me.

_Oh Gods, please let him be okay, please let him be okay…._

"Fang?!" I said cautiously. He put a hand to his temple and shook his head before turning to look at me, his eyes glazed and confused.

"Max?" he said as if he were surprised at seeing me beside him.

Suddenly, his eyes widened and I looked at him worriedly.

Fang never looks that worried.

"Max, you've got to leave" he told me. I did a double take.

"What? No! Why?" I asked.

"You have to get away from me, now!" he barked before he winced clutching his head again.

"Fang? Are you okay?" I asked him, fear starting to grow inside my stomach.

"Go! Now!" he ordered.

"No! I'm the leader and I'm not leaving you no matter what you say!" I shot back at him.

He practically growled at me before, he threw back the covers and I was suddenly pinned down to the bed.

Fang's eyes were screwed shut and he was grinding his teeth, yet even so he had managed to pin me to the bed, and—get this, I couldn't push him off.

_When the hell had Fang gotten so strong?!_ I thought in disbelief.

I twisted under his grasp and kept trying to shove him off, but his grip tightened and I hissed in pain.

He groaned in pain above me and when he felt me trying to kick him off, he pinned my arms above my head and pinned my legs down with his own.

I growled out loud, getting both worried and frustrated at Fang's actions.

"Fang?! Fang! What's wrong with you?" I desperately asked him, but a growl was his only response. I felt his grip slacken just a tiny bit.

"Fang!" I yelled hoping he'd just open his eyes and look at me.

I got my wish—unfortunately.

I let out a small gasp when I saw Fang's eyes. His eyes were still a deep chocolate brown, which was fine. But his pupils….his pupils' were slit dangerously like a cat's would have been. And right now they were staring at me fiercely.

I tried to move again, but seeing Fang's sudden...transformation, had momentarily stunned me.

He growled lowly at me and I took a deep breath desperately trying to regain control of my motor functions.

"Fang?" I asked quietly, not believing that this was him.

Fang bared his teeth and growled at me again. I saw rows of sharp teeth under his lips--almost like (well…) fangs.

He made a deep husky noise at the back of his throat, and before I had time to even blink, Fang put his lips over my own and kissed me.

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REVIEW PLEASE!!...

_--does Bambi eyes--_

...Pwease??


	3. Fang's Bloodlust

Umm...as I said before...please continue reading... and thank you...

PEACE!

_Love from, CK _

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Chapter 3 

Before I had time to even blink, Fang put his lips over my own and kissed me.

I lay there in shock as Fang's moist, firm lips kissed my own and I felt my brain start to go hazy with pleasure. It felt so good and so….so….

All rational thoughts left my head as Fang suddenly wrapped his arms around me and I instinctively put my arms round his neck. He kissed me needily, desperately… passionately almost, and I could hardly think straight through the wonderful feeling coursing through me.

He kissed me firmly again, before he broke the kiss and began to nuzzle the side of my neck and tightened his grip around me.

I could've sworn I herd him mutter "mine" softly to himself, but I was so dizzy from happiness and the fact that he kissed me I wasn't sure if I heard anything right.

Fang then leaned in to kiss me again, this time much softer and more gently. I lay there still in shock as he kissed my lips again and then drew apart, and seemed to stare down at me in disbelief.

I had to blink a few times to keep my eyes from drifting closed and I looked up at him blushing furiously, suddenly realizing what we'd just done. He stared at me in shock; his face also flushed a dark red in mortification and embarrassment.

I opened my mouth, planning on telling him the only word that I had in my head—awkward.

What came out, however, was a word much worse (and something I will probably never live down)

"Wow…." I said, and then immediately bit my lip.

I saw Fang stutter for words and then quickly turn away before jumping off of me and letting me sit up. He stared unmovingly at the wall and I shifted to lean against the headboard uncomfortably.

_What in the world just happened?_ I wondered to myself. Sure I'd enjoyed it, but was Fang okay!? He'd practically jumped me on the bed! And we were a step away from making out!  
I flushed at the thought.

_What if one of the younger kids had seen us? What was wrong with me? What's wrong with him?!_

_That, my dear Max, is called bloodlust!_My Voice hissed angrily at me. I felt a shot of pain roll through my head and I winced. I waited for the pain to pass before focusing on my Voice.

"What do you mean bloodlust?" I asked and saw Fang whip around to look at me.

Oh shoot, I said that out loud.

"Max? Does your Voice know what happened to me?" Fang asked cautiously and I looked to his flushed, nervous face and felt a wave of nerves wash over me again.

"I—uhh, I'll see" I told him.

"What do you mean by bloodlust?" I asked the Voice. I could've sworn it scoffed at me.

_Bloodlust, Max, is when chemicals within both male and female blood become active, however both are slightly different due to the amounts of testosterone an estrogens within male and female bloodlines, therefore causing an extreme attraction towards the other and therefore activates the animal going into heat..._

I waited patiently for a moment, knowing that my Voice was doing that on purpose just to confuse me.

…_it means that Fang has developed an uncontrollable, animalistic attraction to you, Max, because your blood is now in his veins... _

I relayed this information to Fang, hardly believing what my Voice was telling me.

_So Fang is attracted to me now?_ I asked awkwardly.

_It's much worse than that, Max,_ my Voice insisted urgently.

_Fang has no control over his instinctive attraction to you, or over his animalistic urges. If you get to close to him or too intimate—anything as simple as touching him, he could lose control of himself. And I hate to tell you this…but he won't be able to control his actions when he goes into bloodlust and it will only end when the instinct has passed. _

_That could mere seconds or as long as days Maximum. Do you understand why I want you away from Fang now?! He could seriously harm you, or even kill you without knowing it! And neither you nor he can stop that!_

I froze in shock, hardly able to let the realization sink in.

_But Fang would never hurt me! Ever!_ I protested.

_MAXIMUM! Fang will not be able to control himself! He could kill you and not know it until after he regains control of his body! Do you understand me!? I'm trying to protect you, Max. Don't put your life at risk because of him!..._

I gasped for breath and tried to slow my racing heart.

_There's no way this could be true…It can't….it's impossible…._

I felt worry and panic twist uncomfortably in my stomach

…_isn't it?_

"Max?...What's your Voice saying?..."

I turned to Fang, almost forgetting that he was still in the room. The other end of the room now, but in the room all the same.

"It uhh….it's…" I forced myself to take a deep breath and stay cool.

"It said that you're in bloodlust, because my blood is now in you" I told him slowly.

"It's kinda like… this uncontrollable attraction, but you won't be able to control your body while you're in bloodlust. Like an animal going into heat…"

I saw Fang frown deeply and I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"It also said that umm….you could go into bloodlust at any time, and it could last for seconds or days, or anything in between. But uhh….I have to be careful around you, cause, umm….if you can't control your body or your actions then umm…uhh, well--"

"Tell me!" he barked in frustration.

"--that you could seriously hurt or even kill me without knowing it" I quickly finished.

I saw Fang's eyes widen in complete shock and fear and I immediately regretted telling him the last part. I sighed softly and looked to him pleadingly.

"Fang…" I said, desperately trying to think of something to reassure him. He stared at me and shook his head, his eyes still wide in horror.

"No…" he muttered and began to back away from me.

"Fang!" I called softly, "It's okay. Relax… I know you! I know that you'd never—"

"No, Max" he said and continued to back away from me. "I …I couldn't control myself before, and you have no idea how sorry I am for that….but there is no way-- no way in hell that I'm going to stay here if I'm going to hurt you—"

"Fang!?" I said, now starting to worry, seeing Fang turn to unlatch the window.

"Fang!" I cried out.

"Max! Just…stay away from me, alright!? Don't look for me. I promise I'll be back by morning, but stay away from me. I don't want you being stupid …" he told me softly, and unfurled his wings.

"…I'll leave for tonight and I swear to stay as far away from you as possible in the Flock and when we're travelling….just--well, don't…."

Fang let out a frustrated sigh and climbed onto the windowsill.

I sat there in disbelief as he leaned out the window before finishing.

"….just, keep yourself safe from me. I don't want to hurt you…ever….and I would kill myself if I ever did…. G'night, Max…"

"FANG!" I practically screamed at him, hardly believing my ears.

"FANG!!"

I was met with nothing but silence from Fang. And before I could say anything else, he crept out the window swiftly, unfurled his wings and jumped, flying off into the night…

* * *

_--Hundreds of Fang fangirls everywhere scream and faint in horror--_

_--CK looks around guiltily--_

Hehehe...oops...


	4. When In Doubt, Play Tag

LOL. I love writing this stuff...it's so much fun!...

Anyways, I hope you guys like it so far!!

_-- Love from, CK _

* * *

Chapter 4

Needless to say, although Fang had left me last night and I was now safe from being groped or attacked --I didn't sleep at all.

Not. A. Wink.

I stayed awake all night (both willingly and unwillingly) worrying about Fang and that stupid bloodlust stuff that was tearing us apart.

Fang was one of my best friends, not to mention one of my brothers…and maybe…maybe, something a little bit more (but you did NOT hear that from me!).

Morning came and went and I was still wide awake practically glaring at window, begging for Fang to suddenly fly into view… And I mean begging for him to fly into view (and I never beg!)

_I warned you Max, but you refused to listen…._ My Voice scolded.

_Shut up! I don't care what you said the point is that Fang is gone! I shot angrily back at my Voice._ What? Staying up all night is one of the best ways to make someone extremely grumpy.

_Max, I told you to stay away from him and the fact that he lost control when he kissed you is not surprising at all--_

_-- Well why didn't this happen when that girl Lissa kissed Fang!? Huh? I shot at it. That stupid Voice was driving me insane!_

_Simple, Max,_ My Voice said. _Bloodlust happens specifically through the blood. And, Fang is a human-avian, not just an ordinary human, so his kiss with that girl Lissa was meaningless—unless she too has human-avian blood._

I mentally glared at my (stupid-irritating-know-it-all-smary-pants-did-I-mention-irritating?-) Voice.

_However,_ My Voice whispered evilly in my ear,_ If Fang had somehow exchanged blood with her or vice versa –say he'd bitten her, then I'm afraid to say that Lissa would be lying close-to-dead right about now... a pity, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind it if your competition was--_

_Shut it!_ I snapped angrily. The last thing I wanted to hear was about Fang and that annoying red-headed, Lissa.

_Jealous?_

_You wish!_ I shot back.

There was a sharp knock on my door and I rolled my eyes before swinging it open to meet the happy, grinning faces of my other Flock members.

_I wish I were that happy…_ I thought bitterly.

"Hey Max!" Gazzy greeted me and for some strange reason it annoyed me.

_Stupid grumpiness….and I don't care if that's not a word!..._ I thought before my Voice could interrupt.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked them, trying to sound happy and easygoing.  
Iggy raised an eyebrow at me and shrugged.

"Fang came knocking on our doors a few minutes ago and told us we had to get ready to go. He said that it's almost 9:00 and we gotta leave before anyone can see our wings" Iggy told me simply.

I stiffened when I heard Fang's name and as soon as Iggy finished I practically threw my head around the corner, only to see Fang—dark and silent as always, leaning against the wall.

"Fang!" I said in relief and he looked at me swiftly. I opened my mouth to tell him how sorry I was and how worried I'd been, but he shot me a look that said save-it-for-later-when-the-younger-guys-aren't-around.

I quickly closed my mouth and turned to the other guys.

"Okay, well you guys can crash in here while I get dressed" I told them, ushering them into my little orange room.

I turned for a second, only to hear a squeak and a giggle. I turned and saw that Gazzy and Nudge were jumping on the bed, which explained why the giggling and squeaking was happening.

"Quit it!" I barked at them and they looked at me in surprise. I gritted my teeth in frustration and gave them an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry guys" I told them. "I just…I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm really grumpy."

I trailed off sheepishly and Angel gave me a pitying look.

"You were really worried about something last night, weren't you? That why you couldn't sleep…"

I looked at her for a moment, practically feeling Fang's gaze on my back and Angel trying to read my mind again.

"Yeah…I was..." I said quietly, addressing both Angel and Fang at once.

I quickly got dressed into my usual jeans and sweatshirt before I walked out of the bathroom to see everyone relaxed and content.

I felt Fang step up behind me, and I wondered quickly what I should say to him. I was cut off before I could open my mouth.

"Okay guys" Fang said calmly, "let's go."

"Wait, don't we need to pay?" Nudge asked. "It's illegal to leave somewhere without paying, right? Well, I mean, I know you can leave public places without paying because you don't need to pay in the first place, but since we—"

"I've already paid, Nudge" Fang told her. I did a double take in surprise.

"What?" I said, "But I have the credit card… and we don't have enough cash on us to buy a donut, let alone pay for a stay at this motel!"

Fang softly smirked, and I saw regret and almost sadness in his eyes.

_Of course, he must still feel horrible about last night….I'm so stupid!... If I had only…..if I could only…._

"Iggy nicked your credit card" I heard him say softly. My head snapped up.

"What?!" Fang met my gaze for a split second before he turned to look out the door awkwardly and he smirked again.

"Last night…when we were all pairing up…. Iggy nicked your credit card out our jean pocket. So I used that to pay" Fang told me, and I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Hey! Fang! That was supposed to our little secret!" Iggy protested. I stood there in silent disbelief before I let out a chuckle and cracked my knuckles.

"Ig..." I warned, "...you and I need to have a nice long talk about stealing…" I told him in a low voice.

Gazzy snickered me and Nudge and Angel giggled as Iggy's sightless blue eyes widened in mock fear. I couldn't help grinning.

"That's right Ig….you better be thinking uh-oh…" I told him and cracked my other knuckle. "You have three seconds before I --"

Iggy was out the window and up in the air before I could finish my sentence. The others laughed at him before they too leapt out the window and took of into the air.

…the same way Fang had last night.

I turned to look at Fang but he refused to meet my gaze. Frustrated, I decided that I'd talk to him in the air, and I too leapt out into the sunlight.

I waited for Fang to meet us, but to my surprise he chose to hover just a short distance away from us.

_It's because of you, Max…_My Voice told me.

I frowned deeply. Great, that's just what I want to hear right now…

"Okay guys, were heading east" I told them. "Let's get moving"

"Where are we going?' Iggy asked.

"It's a surprise" I told him, smiling mysteriously. He shrugged uncaringly at me and then we all took off and started flying. As we started our trip east, I unknowingly (yeah right….) slowed down and ended up beside Fang.

I turned to talk to him, only to see him swoop to the side and speed up. He was in front of me now and I raised an eyebrow at him.

_He's actually running away from me...that chicken…_

_He still feels guilty over his bold actions towards you last night,_ My Voice said.

_Thank you, Captain Obvious._

_Max…look, you have to resolve this with him. If he insists o running from the truth, then you need to find a way to stop him and bring the truth to him. He will thank you in the end for it…he needs to realise that he can't outrun the truth. He lost control over himself last night, but that's no excuse for him to avoid you when you both are so very close._

I flew in silence for a few minutes hardly believing the kind, caring words my Voice had just told me.

_Did you just tell me to get close to Fang?_ I asked

_Yes… _came my simple response.

_But just a few hours ago you were telling me to stay away from Fang….man! How confusing can you get!?_

I took a moment to speed up and try gliding over to Fang, but he swooped away from me again and I frowned in disappointment.

_I'm looking out for your best interests Max...I'm here to help you…And if being close to Fang—although it puts you in huge amounts of danger— will help you focus on your destiny again, so be it…_

I almost rolled my eyes.

_So you want me to make-up with Fang so I can re-focus on my fate of saving the world, is that right? This has, oh I don't know, nothing to do with that fact that you might want Fang and me to continue being friends?_

There was no answer and I grinned smugly to myself. There was no way I was going to lose Fang or let him act all chivalrous and gloomy because we'd kissed. So what if he was supposedly dangerous?

_Dangerous or not, I could take him out,_ I told myself jokingly. That lightened my mood considerably and I looked to Fang with new determination, before diving down beside him.

He once again, swiftly banked and pulled away from me, but not swift enough that I couldn't say three words in his ear.

"Tag! I'm it..."

* * *

Umm...err...uhh...

_--cough cough--_

...let the chase begin!! Mwahahahahahaha!!


	5. Kissoh Number 2oh

YAY!!

Thank you wonderful, sweet reviewers!!

-- huggle ! --

Thank you all!! It really means a lot to me, and if you have any criticism please let me know. The better I can make this fic the...uhh...better I can make this fic. LOL

Specifically, I'd like to thank **BlueSea14**, **Aqua**, **Yascarocks**, and **Myrah** for reviewing. I love you guys!!

Until later!

_-- Love from, CK _

* * *

Chapter 5

Fang pulled away from me in a sweeping, graceful arc and was suddenly at the head of the Flock.

_Oh no you don't…_ I thought to myself.

I sped up and flew past the others pulling up beside Fang just as he swiftly moved to the left. I followed him almost instantly and, out of the former of my eye, I saw the rest of Flock hover in place behind us in confusion.

I narrowly missed the top of a tree and Fang swoop down into the forest below and I gritted my teeth before diving after him.

I saw a flash of dark wings fly through two trees on my left and took off after them, knowing that if I had to, I would use my new power to catch him if he wouldn't stop running away.

…..or flying away, whatever.

He swooped down suddenly and I almost hit a tree in surprise.

I quickly followed him downwards and copied each of his movements. Unfortunately, Fang had learned more than I thought from those hawks, since all of his swoops and dives were a lot more fluent than mine.

I saw him speed up in a small clearing ahead and I quickly put on a burst of speed to catch up with him. Suddenly, I felt that same rush of power I always did when I started to fly supersonic-fast.

I saw Fang fall behind me and I forced myself to stop a few feet ahead of him, before turning around to stare at him defiantly. He shot up to the sky and I took off after him, only to suddenly jolt to a stop when Fang stopped in mid-air and turned to glare at me.

His eyes were darkened with anger and I could see that he was clenching his teeth and that his hands were balled in tight fists.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" He yelled and I was taken aback at just how much anger there was in his voice.

"I'm following you" I said, sounding calmer than I felt right now.

Fang gritted his teeth and I could hear nothing but the sound of my racing heartbeat in my ears and Fang's heavy breaths.

"I told you to stay away from me!" he yelled.

"I don't have to listen to you, Fang!" I yelled back, suddenly questioning why I had taken after him in the first place. I felt alone and almost vulnerable just waiting there, and I needed something to make me feel comfortable again—unfortunately, yelling back at him was the only thing I could think of at the moment.

"Well you should, Max! Why are you following me anyway? Are you trying to get me to attack you again or something!?"

"No! But I'm not about to let you be stubborn and stay away from me just because you feel guilty about something you had no control over! I need you to snap out of it and get back to being the quiet, sarcastic, supportive care-free Fang you always are!! I need you to be you again!!" I yelled, desperately trying to make him see things from my point of view.

He was my brother, my friend, my security. If he wasn't okay and he felt uncomfortable around me I was going to break down.

I needed him.

And he needed me.

But I knew that we would never admit that to each other, ever. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of us, the two older members of the Flock.

The regular Fang would've seen that in an instant and would immediately know what I was feeling and what I needed to say. But this Fang wasn't the Fang I knew and lo—cared for. And I was not going to rest until Fang was back to being himself.

Fang all but growled at me and I shot him another defiant look.

"I'm not leaving you alone" I told him sternly, already reading the stubborn look in his eyes.

"Max! Leave now! I refuse to get anywhere near you because there's no chance that I'm going to put you in danger! I would never forgive myself if I hurt you, Max! I refuse to let that happen!! And so I'm doing this for your own good!!" he yelled, and I was surprised at the worry I heard beneath the anger in his voice.

"I won't let myself hurt you!!" he yelled furiously, his eyes dark and his teeth barred in cold anger.

"Well I don't care if you hurt me Fang!! If you have to hurt me to go back to normal then fine!! Do it!! I'd rather have you hit me than have you ignore me, Fang!! Just snap out of it and let me help you, Godamnit!!"

"Max! Are you trying to be stupid or does it just come naturally!? GET LOST!!" Fang screamed, cold fury and hatred ringing clear in his voice.

I gasped before I could help myself and quickly bit my lip.

Fang was shaking with anger and his words seemed to echo around us in the empty forest. I felt pain in my lip where I had bitten too hard, and I felt tears pricking the back of my eyes.

I'd never seen Fang so angry….and what was worse, I'd never seen him so angry at me. I couldn't believe that we had just had a huge fight… and it had only made things worse between us….

I had to clench my hands into fists and look away to stop from revealing how hurt I really was by his harsh words--how much I wanted to just break down into a ball and cry for him not to be mad at me.

Fang had never talked to me like that.

**Ever. **

And I felt like my heart had just been ripped apart by him.

I knew that I was going to burst out into sobs, and I knew that there was no denying it. But I'm stubborn, and I knew that Fang hated me right now ( that's what hurt more than anything else…) so I refused to break down crying while he was still looking at me.

Fang's eyes suddenly widened and I saw a look of horror cross his face for a split second before I had to look away again.

"Are you ?...No, come on, Max. Don't be a crybaby! Just, don't cry …Max, don't…" Fang said, his voice taunt in realization. I bit down harder on my lip, and winced when I tasted coppery blood in my mouth.

"Oh gods, look Max…" Fang called quietly, his voice pleading, and I had to bite into my cut lip again to stop from letting out a choked sob.

_Don't cry…don't cry…_I chanted to myself, willing away the irritating wetness beneath my lids. _You're tougher than this! Don't cry, you baby…_

…_. Shoot! Too late._

A flood of tears suddenly fell from my eyes before I could protest. I could taste the comforting, salty taste in the corners of my mouth and I had to put my hands over my mouth to stop from sobbing.

I heard a flurry of wings and quickly moved back, knowing that it was Fang coming towards me. A pair of rough, warm hands was suddenly on my shoulders and he held me close.

I could feel the regret all around him, and I knew that he wished more than anything he could take back what he'd said.

I moved my hands to get more air into my lungs, and as I took a deep breath I was mortified when a ragged sob left my throat.

I threw my hands over my mouth again and shook my head at myself. Hot, miserable tears streamed down my cheeks again, and this time, they didn't stop falling. A rough hand gripped my chin but I turned away in protest. I was pulled tightly against a strong, solid chest and Fang's hand pulled my head up to meet his gaze.

His eyes were clouded with worry and self-hatred, and when he saw my face they flashed in shock before I saw remorse take over his features.

"I'm sorry…Max, Oh gods, I'm so sorry….so sorry..." he told me pleadingly as he held me to him and I felt another wave of fresh tears prick my eyes.

Tears of happiness.

Not able to stand it any longer, I broke out into tears and threw my arms around him, ashamed at how weak and pathetic I had become. I was crying silently all over his shirt, but he only held me closer, and I knew that I had gotten the real Fang back.

"I'm sorry!..." I heard myself say, but he hushed me soothingly. I almost whimpered at the kindness he was showing me after I'd been so horrible to him.

One of his hands somehow ended up in my hair, the other one griping me tightly to him—as if he were afraid that I'd fall if he didn't hold me up. He stroked my hair and held me close, and even though he never said anything, it was the best thing I could've ever asked for.

Eventually my tears began to slow and I turned away fro him in embarrassment, laughing sheepishly.

"Man…I'm such a baby…." I muttered shamefully and I felt Fang lift my head to meet his gaze again. His eyes were warm with a silent beg of forgiveness and I gave a soft nod, instantly feeling him relax and grow more comfortable.

"Max?" he said softly, and I turned to him awkwardly.

"Yeah…"

"Were you serious?...when you said you would actually want me to hurt you?" he asked.

I flushed and looked to the side before nodding.

"If it'll help you, then I'll do whatever it takes" I told him sincerely, hoping that it hadn't sounded cheesy (which it did, but you can always hope.)

"Thanks" he said, and that was enough to tell me that he was going to be okay, and that I was going to be too.

I wiped the tears out of my eyes and looked down, still embarrassed at the way I'd thrown myself at him, and my hair fell into my eyes.

I wiped it away in annoyance and Fang smirked softly to himself, before he reached over and wiped a piece away too. I felt my cheeks flush as I caught his gaze again, this time unable to stop looking at him.

He smirked mysteriously at me, his dark eyes alight with mischief. I gave him a quizzical look, but he only shook his head and stared back at me, as if he we silently laughing at something I had done.

And that was when he kissed me.

…Again.

* * *

Ummm...PLEASE REVIEW!!

It's much appreciated! And um...uh...I'll give you cookies!?...LOL.


	6. I Taste Like Peaches ! ?

Hey-o! I'm ba-ack !!!

LOL. So, how are y'all???

Umm...yeah...I don't know what to say...so uhhh...umm...MOOSE!

Okay, I'm done... LOL.

Until later!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 6

I was surprised when I felt him kiss me, it was so different from the last time we'd kissed. Which had been all of 11 hours ago.  
The kiss was gentle, cautious, and comforting. I felt like if Fang hadn't been holding me I would've fallen out of the sky in bliss.  
His lips moved gently over my own, testing to find my limits and seeing if I wanted to stop the kiss.  
But I didn't.  
I tightened my grip on him, never wanting to let go of him or of this kiss. He kissed me tenderly, lovingly almost and his lips were so warm and so good I couldn't stop myself from kissing him back.  
He seemed a bit surprised when I began to shyly kiss him back, but he moved his hand to the back of my neck and drew my face closer so that our kiss suddenly became firmer.  
He kissed me a little harder than before drawing back to see if he'd gone too far, and then he kissed me firmly again and did the same thing.  
His lips would brush mine tenderly as he pulled back and I realised that he was teasing me, and I almost growled in frustration.  
As if he knew what was thinking, he kissed me firmly again, his lips driving me slowly crazy as this kiss seemed to go on forever.  
As we continued the kiss, I suddenly realised that Fang's lips tasted like something dark and sweet. I didn't know what the taste was, but it reminded me of everything that was Fang---everything that was dark yet sweet.  
His lips were addictive.  
So…damn…addictive…  
He kissed me more passionately than before and I slipped my arms around his neck on instinct. His lips were now moving faster, more teasingly over my own and I felt myself longing for this kiss to never end. His hand was running through my hair swiftly and he was hugging my body to his in such a way that I felt dizzy with pleasure.  
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Fang put his lips squarely over my own and I felt his tongue lick my bottom lip gently.  
(To my horror) I let out a low, quiet moan of approval and felt a shiver of pleasure go through me. He kissed me deeply again before he drew back slowly and I heard him chuckling in front of me.  
I flushed in mortification when I realised that I had made such an incredible embarrassing noise, and my heart leapt into my throat as I realised tat Fang would never let me live it down, and that I was going to have to strangle myself later.  
I was so embarrassed and I couldn't speak because I was so shocked and horrified at myself for being so…so…freaking girly.  
My head was spinning and I had to blink a few times before I managed to focus on Fang's smirking face in front of my own. His arms we still around my waist and one of his hands was still my hair, and I saw that his hair had fallen attractively in front of his dark-brown eyes.  
He leaned his forehead against my own and that was when I saw that his eyes were once again slit like a cat's. I realised that he must have gone into bloodlust as we kissed, and a small wave of panic rolled through me before it passed.  
Wait…He was in bloodlust, yet he hadn't attacked me….how come that happened? I silently wondered.  
Fang seemed to be perfectly fine—he wasn't hissing in pain or going psychotic on me, he looked and seemed like the normal Fang, just with really cool pupils.  
I heard Fang chuckle and I was snapped out of my thoughts to see an amused, cocky grin plastered on his face.  
I flushed again and felt my cheeks grow hot at remembering how I'd made that…noise when he'd done that…thing, and I frowned when I saw the cocky grin on his face.  
"Shut up…" I muttered to him, but his smirk only widened.  
Stupid teenage boy.  
He made a soft, content noise at the back of his throat before he leaned down and nuzzled my neck tenderly. He nudged my ear with his nose.  
"You taste like peaches…." He told me huskily, and I almost died of embarrassment.  
Oh my gods, I cannot believe Fang just said that. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods, oh gods, oh my gods---  
I heard Fang chuckling at my reaction and he looked me in the eye calmly before rubbed his nose against mine gently. I blushed a dark red and bit my lip in embarrassment, only to have Fang grin at me knowingly.  
I stuttered, at a loss for words after Fang's, uhh…confession. He seemed amused at my nervousness and he chuckled again. He pulled me over to the top branch on a nearby tree and I was thankful that I finally had something solid to stand on.  
I looked quickly at him before looking the other way, still unable to believe that Fang had just told me I tasted like peaches.  
And for once, I didn't have snappy comeback.  
That jerk.  
He caught my eye and I tried to glare at him, only to have him raise an eyebrow at me.  
"What? You do taste like peaches" he said simply, as if he'd told me about the nice weather. I blushed again at his statement and he grinned at me.  
"You do…" he insisted in a calm tone. "It's not like it's a bad thing. In my opinion, you taste absolutely…"  
There was silence for a moment and I couldn't help but look at him again, and saw that he had been waiting for me to do just that.  
"…delicious" he finished, his husky voice ringing clear through the air.  
I hated him for that. I blushed furiously again and glared at him, only to realise that his eyes were no longer cat-like (freaky...)  
He was just in bloodlust a minute ago. So wait…does that mean that when he said all that stuff while he was in bloodlust?... Or did he come out of bloodlust and then said all that? ARGH! This is so confusing!  
I heard a yell from the edge of forest and immediately remembered that we'd left the Flock waiting. Fang turned to look at me and I quickly unfurled my wings and he did the same and then took off in front of me.  
I had to stop myself from smacking my head against the tree.  
I will never understand guys…  
Fang and I arrived back to where the Flock was waiting, all of them looking very annoyed and confused at the two of us.  
"Where did you guys go?" Nudge asked us.  
I saw Fang fly off to the side of the Flock, and I knew that I was going to have to answer all the questions.  
"Were you guys playing tag?" Gazzy suddenly piped up curiously. "You were chasing him pretty fast and stuff, and he seemed to keep moving out of your way a lot. I 've never seen Fang do that before…"  
I smiled reassuringly at the blonde 8-year-old and ruffled his hair.  
"Something like that…" I said. There was no way I was telling the rest of the Flock that Fang and I had a fight, or that we had just randomly kissed (yet again) because of his bloodlust.  
His bloodlust… which I still didn't understand…  
"Okay guys, let's get back on track. We need to keep heading east." I told them. Iggy yawned and nodded at me.  
"Where are we going again?" he asked.  
"It's a surprise" I told him again, feeling a sense of déjà vu…or I could be going crazy, ya never know with me.  
Iggy raised a blonde eyebrow.  
"Which translates into, you have no clue where we're going do you?" Iggy said.  
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you" I defended. He scoffed and me and started to laugh lightly.  
I couldn't help but grin back and I gently smacked him upside the head.  
"We're going to Texas, y'all. Nice, sweet and sunny Texas. Thank you very much, Mr. Iggy-I-think-I-know-everything" I joked with him. (Truthfully, Iggy does now just about everything, but I wasn't about to admit that to him.)  
He shot me a mean look, but he cracked into a smile a few moments later. "Cool! We're going to Texas!" Gazzy shouted and threw his tiny fist into the air. I smiled at his enthusiasm.  
"Okay guys, let's move" I said and we continued our flight eastward. As we flew, I decided that it was time to ask my Voice more about this bloodlust stuff. After-all, it seemed to know a whole lot about it….  
Hey, Voice? You there? I asked.  
Yes, Max? Came my instant reply.  
If Fang went into bloodlust when we were uh…kissing a minute ago, how come he didn't lose control and become all crazy and scary like he did last time? I asked.  
Max, bloodlust doesn't mean you always have to loose control of yourself. It can be controlled, just you may end up being more violent, more bold, or more intimate with someone than you would usually allow yourself to be.  
I almost stopped flapping my wings when I heard this.  
What!? You never told me that bloodlust could be controlled! Why didn't you tell me that earlier!? I mentally shouted.  
If Fang and I had known that he wouldn't have flown off last night and we wouldn't have had that stupid fight!!!!  
I had to force myself to calm down before I could talk again.  
What else should I know about bloodlust? I want the whole thing right now! Don't leave anything out and don't spare me the details! I want to know everything about this stupid bloodlust because it is driving me crazy that I don't know what is wrong with my best friend!!  
Don't you mean boyfriend? My Voice asked slyly. I gritted my teeth.  
No! I quickly denied. Fang is one of my best friends and I—  
A best friend whom I see you've kissed twice. In less than 12 hours. That sounds like a relationship to me, Max…  
I didn't ask you that! I quickly said, not liking where the conversation was headed. Tell me the details about bloodlust! Now! I ordered my Voice. (Can you order a Voice around? Never mind, don't answer that….)  
Very well, I'll tell you about bloodlust in a minute or two.  
No! Tell me now! I protested. I never knew why my Voice couldn't just tell me things straight out. That Voice was always playing games with me.  
Testing me.  
Not to mention annoying the life out of me…  
I can't. You've got bigger things to worry about right now, Max.  
Like what? I asked irritably, my desire to know about the bloodlust driving me to get some answers.  
Like that large group of Erasers that you're going to have to fight…it told me simply. I did a double take at the statement.  
What Er—  
"Guys!" Iggy suddenly shouted, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I can hear Erasers, one o'clock. There's a big group of them and they're coming up fast. We gotta move" he said hurriedly.  
I quickly flew up in front of my Flock and tried to glare at my Voice.  
I hate you I told it bitterly. There was no answer from my Voice and I sighed to myself.  
Time to kick some butt…

* * *

LOL. Oh... "Moose"... 

Hehehehe...**priceless.**

Please review...please?...


	7. Since When Am I Fang's Girl ?

Hey guys!!! I'm ba-ack!

I just wanted to give a HUGE THANK YOU to all of my reviewers!!!

Specifically, that's **Snap Crackle Pop, SlytherinProngs, Paradox-Barbarian-Princess, Sarith, HermioneHair, EdwardIsTheHottestVampire, Amber, october tuscany, Mrs. Grayson, Jackie, Odet Mae, Alledaria, Ringwarriorkayla, Anony, Myrahffgirlmoonie, hyper.much911, WiiNGeDBaBii30, Golden Nugget, Yascarocks, BlueSea14, Aqua**, and **GreenEyed13.**

WOW...I didn't even realise I had this many people that liked my fic. LOL.

You guys rock!

Anyways, this chapter contains **MR2 spoliers**!!!! If you don't wanna know,m don't read.

But anyways, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

_Love from, CK_

**

* * *

**

Chapter 7

Gazzy, Ig! Take the left! Fang, up top! Nudge, Angel! Go to the right! And please keep Total in your backpack so he doesn't fall!" I quickly shouted to everyone, and a second later all of them moved swiftly in to their positions.  
Gods, I love my Flock.  
Wouldn't you know it, a swarm of Flying Erasers suddenly appeared in front the beautiful sun and began to dart towards us.  
It was so poetic….not.  
A couple of Erasers dived for Iggy and Gazzy and then the fight began.  
I had to focus now on my own group of Erasers, which I quickly took down with a few hard kicks to the neck and by slamming my hands over their ears and popping their eardrums. I briefly to a glance over to the rest of my Flock to se I they were alright.  
Angel was making them crash into each other, Nudge was laughing at them, Fang was---  
There was a loud booming sound like thunder and I turned to see Gazzy and Iggy high-fiving as a bloody Eraser fell lifelessly to the ground.  
I will never understand how Iggy manages to hide an endless amount of bombs on himself.  
Where in the world did he stash them all?—Wait, don't answer that…  
And then he came along.  
Ari.  
I had to stop from snarling when I saw his wolfish, smug face and he growled meanly at me.  
Like I hadn't seen him do that before.  
"Hello, little birdie" he said gruffly, a feral grin on his face.  
I rolled my eyes boredly.  
"How many times do I have to take you down before you get the hint!?" I asked. He snarled at me I response and then lunged at me angrily. Idiot…  
I flew upwards and watched him stumble in the air before forcing his wings to propel himself up to me.  
Hr came at me growling furiously with his hand in a hard, hairy fist, and I yawned (just to bug him) and swooped out of the way. I kicked him hard in the knees and punched the side of his head, only to be whacked across the face as he punched me.  
I suddenly felt woozy and dizzy and realised in horror that he'd hit so hard he'd almost knocked me out. I shook my head to clear it, but it only made things worse and I knew that if I didn't do something soon I was gonna faint.  
This has never happened before... I thought distractedly.  
Ari's rough ragged paws were suddenly around my neck and I gagged, desperately trying to get air into my burning lungs. I struggled against his hold and kicked and clawed at his hands desperately but he refused to let go and I felt my body starting to become heavy.  
Ari cackled madly above me, his wolfish eyes bright with happiness at seeing me struggle like this.  
I suddenly didn't have enough strength to move my arms and my eyesight started to blur.  
I'm gonna collapse….oh no...oh Gods no…. I thought panicked and hurriedly.  
There was no way for me to escape this. And I knew that unless a miracle happened really soon, I was going to die…  
I was starving for air and felt myself losing my line of vision, when suddenly I was able to breathe again.  
I took a deep breath and sputtered, and thanked Gods for whatever miracle had just happened.  
"Max!" I heard Iggy call, "are you alright?"  
The Flock hovered beside me and I nodded, not trusting myself to speak just yet.  
I swooped away in case Ari tried to attack me again and saw to my astonishment that Fang had Ari by the throat.  
Ari, whom I hadn't been able to move his hand from my neck, was now gagging and wheezing for air under Fang's grip.  
I gasped when I saw that Ari was clawing at Fang's hands, and that Fang's hands were cut and bleeding freely down his grip. Bt he didn't seem to notice at all...  
"Fang!" I called and swooped back over to him worriedly. Fang whipped his head around to look at me and I had to stop from gasping again when I saw that his eyes were bright with rage and were slit furiously.  
He was in bloodlust again.  
Uh-oh…  
I heard Angel and Nudge gasp in fright behind me and I made a motion for them to be calm. I had forgotten that I'd never told them about Fang's bloodlust.  
Oops.  
Ari made a choking noise from Fang's grasp and Fang turned and snarled at him in a low, deadly voice I had never heard him use before.  
For some strange reason, Fang released his grip for a moment and Ari took a deep, desperate breath of air. Than Fang grabbed him around the neck again and started to choke him.  
….Again.  
"Keep your hands off my girl…" Fang hissed lowly, and I was too stunned to even be embarrassed. Not only had Fang just said that while the Flock was here, but he seemed to have been dead serious about it.  
Ari let out a rough gasp and then before I could blink, Fang had slammed his fist hard into Ari's face.  
Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark….  
Ari broke free of Fang's grasped and howled loudly, blood streaming from his nose, he and began to whimper pitifully. I almost felt sorry for him.  
Ari was only 7 years old after all...  
Ari was smart enough, however, to know not to threaten us with his revenge or that he'd be back (for once) and he took off as fast as he could in the other direction.  
Actually, our Flock looked like they were ready to take off in the other direction right about now. Fang was scary when he was in bloodlust. But now, he looked murderous in this new form of an all-out-furious-bloodlust mode.  
Fang watched Ari leave and growled gruffly as he left, before he turned around to face us and I heard Nudge whimper in fear behind me.  
I held her hand reassuringly.  
"Fang..." I began lowly, not having the slightest idea what I was doing, but only knowing that I wanted Fang to go back to normal before he attacked someone the way he had attacked Ari.  
If what my Voice had said was true, Fang could attack any one of us (most likely me) at any time for no apparent reason, and if that was the case, I was going to make sure it was me and not the others.  
I would protect these guys with my life.

...Even if it meant protecting them from Fang...

"Fang…" I said lowly, making sure to keep the Flock protectively behind me.  
"It's okay… we're all safe now and Ari is gone…you can stop uhh…being scary now…"  
He growled at me and moved closer, and I instinctively moved the Flock farther away from him.  
He bared his sharp, fang-like teeth at me (how ironic) and then simply closed his eyes and took a few deep, slow breaths.  
I looked at him cautiously, not knowing if he was alright, when Fang's normal, bloodlust-free eyes fluttered open dazedly and he stared at all of us confused and clutched his head.  
"Why are you all staring at me?" he asked, raising a dark eyebrow.  
I could've smacked him over the head for that.  
"Why!? You went all crazy and psycho on us!" Nudge shouted. "It was so weird, you're eyes were all tiny and slit and you had these sharp Fangs and you totally kicked Ari's butt! Which was a good thing of course, but you had him I this steel grip and stuff and told hi not to 'touch your girl'…"  
Nudge trailed off and as if struck with a thought, she turned to him curiously.  
"Is Max your girlfriend?"  
My eyes went wide and Fang's did too, and instantly I heard Gazzy, Iggy, and Angel burst out giggling behind me.  
"Fa-ng lik-es Ma-x!" Gazzy suddenly said in a sing song voice, which earned him a glare from me and Fang.  
"Very funny guys, now come on! Let's keep moving we need to reach Texas before nightfall" I told them and pushed them forwards until they took off flying again.  
Fang and I were the last to follow them and he seemed distracted and torn for a moment before he turned to me.  
"Did I really call you my girl?" he asked. I fidgeted nervously.  
"Yeah…"  
"Oh….sorry…" he mumbled quietly and I smiled to myself.  
"It's okay. At least you didn't call me Mom again like when we were at Anne's house" I told him jokingly.  
He seemed to loosen up at that and grinned back at me.  
"But you are like a Mom. An over-protective, extremely-cautious, mutant mom who's always on the run and trying to protect her family…but a mom all the same" he told me softly.  
I felt my heart leap in my throat and felt a blush creping onto my cheeks again.  
"I uh---well, you uhh…" I stuttered, completely at a loss for words.  
"Thanks..." I finally managed to say, and Fang gave me a rare smile that made my heart pound and my stomach flip happily.  
At that moment, Gazzy let loose one of his uhh…"gifts" and Fang flew up ahead to try and calm down the other guys in the Flock, all of whom were dipping and diving crazily to try and avoids the smell.  
I watched him go and had to correct one of my earlier thoughts when I saw him.  
I'd said that I will never understand guys.  
Correction.  
I will never understand Fang…  
We arrived in Austin, Texas a few hours later, and decided to treat ourselves and good-night's stay at an actual hotel.  
The younger guys were ecstatic about it and I promised that we would check into a hotel once I managed to clean Fang's wound and we grabbed a bite to eat.  
We stopped by an empty playground and so the younger guys (who got bored of watching me as I bandaged Fang's hand) went to go fool around for a while.  
"Ow!" Fang winced as I pulled the bandage a little tighter over his cuts.  
"Suck it up, buttercup" I told him grinning softly. "Be a man!"  
He shot me an irritated, sarcastic look and I rolled my eyes and loosened it a tiny bit.  
"There? Better?" I asked and tied it closed. He moved his hand and flexed his fingers before smirking and saying "Much better."  
I smirked back before I had to yell ay Gazzy not to hang upside down on the monkey bars for too long, when a clear voice rang out through the empty park.  
You have got to be kidding me… I thought to myself.  
We had a guest. But I'll give you a hint… it wasn't Ari.  
As a matter of fact, I'd rather that it was Ari again, because I could kick his butt and not feel bad about it. But no…oh no…..  
Nope, our lovely guest was none other than the nightmare of nightmares herself…

Lissa.

* * *

Dun dun duhhhhh!!!!! The dreaded Lissa lives on!!!! 

What will happen next!?...well, keep reading !...


	8. LISSA ! ? In Texas ?

Fang and Lissa...sittin in a tree!... Now Max is mad cause Lissa won't leave!!!!

LOL. I realise that was a really bad rhyme but I was bored...teehee!

Well...since it's been brought to my attention _--cough cough, people yelling at me, cough cough--_ that I took forever to post last time, I decided I could try and make it up to you guys by posting two chapters! YAY!

So, here's the next chapter guys! I hope you like it!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 8 

Oh my gods. You've got to be kidding me… I thought in disbelief.  
There is no reason in heaven and hell that Lissa should be here in Texas! It's not natural!  
Do I sense a hint of jealousy, Maximum? My Voice asked.  
No! I just wanna know how in the world Lissa—  
"Nick! Oh my God!" She yelled and ran over to Fang, a happy, pretty smile taking over her already pretty face.  
That priss.  
I bit my lip angrily and felt guilt wash over me. That was a low shot.  
Lissa was a friendly, good person (from what I knew). And I had no right to say that just because she was pretty and Fang found her attractive.  
I took a deep breath.  
You're fine, Max I told myself. You're fine…just ask her how's she's doing and why in the world she's here in Texas….  
"Oh my god! What are you doing here!? I can't believe it!" she said through happy laughs.  
She turned to look past Fang and caught my eye and I tried to smile at her.  
It came out as more of a grimace, but she got the point.  
"Max!" she said happily, her eyes widening. "Hi! It's so good to see you again!" she told me sincerely.  
"You too" I said, in silent wonder of where this girl got all her happiness from.  
"What are you guys doing in Texas?" she asked.  
I tried to smile again and mentally raced through my head to try and form a plan.  
"We're here on a…family trip. To visit our relatives" I told her.  
"Really? So am, I! That's amazing!" she said. My smile quickly dropped.  
"My grandparents live here in Texas and they invited me down to stay for the week. There's supposed to be this great carnival tomorrow and I was just on my way over to my pen pal Laura's house to ask her if she wanted to come and, well… I found you guys!."  
Lissa suddenly gasped and I turned around, wondering if Iggy had just blown up something again.  
"Hey!...Umm…would you guys want to come to the Carnival with us tomorrow?" she asked, her green eyes sparkling as they looked between Fang and I.  
"Uhh…" I began uncertainly. The last ting I wanted to do was spend an entire afternoon with Lissa. But we couldn't make up an excuse because she was sure to know we—  
"Sure" Fang said, and I snapped my head around to stare at him.  
Lissa smiled happily and threw her arms around him in a quick hug. "Great! I'll pick you guys up tomorrow. Where are you staying?' she asked.  
Uh-oh, meltdown moment.  
"Umm…well uhh…"  
"We can never remember our uncle's address. So how about we meet you in front of the Best Western Hotel on Eastern Ave.?" Fang asked her casually.  
Lissa shot him a dazzling smile and nodded sweetly.  
"Sure! We'll meet you there and then we can all walk to the Carnival together! It's only a short distance from there…"  
"Sure" Fang said, and I felt as if I had suddenly become invisible. I stuttered for words but was constantly interrupted.  
"So well meet at say…1'o"clock?' she asked.  
Fang nodded silently in response.  
"Cool…well, I gotta be going. Laura's probably waiting for me…."  
"It was great seeing you guys again" she said smiling at both of us kindly.  
Why does that only make me dislike her all the more…  
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then" she said softly. "I can't wait…"  
She looked up at Fang from underneath her eyelashes and gave a tiny, shy giggle before she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.  
My anger hit the sky (since there is no roof strong enough to stop me when I'm angry), and I nearly screamed at her in fury.  
Just what I the world did she think she was doing! That little—little--  
She pulled away and (to my astonishment) I saw a light blush on Fang's cheeks.  
She giggled softly and then jogged away, and I glared at her back until she was gone and then turned my gaze on Fang.  
Fang looked away instantly and I felt myself shaking with anger.  
What the hell did Fang think he was doing?! Let alone what did Lissa think she was doing!?...  
I growled at the back of my throat, and was interrupted from interrogating Fang by Iggy's high pitched whistle.  
"Ow, ow! Fang, the ladies man!" Iggy teased and I saw Fang's blush darken. "You sly dog, you! You've got the ladies practically drooling over you!" Iggy laughed to himself. "You have got to teach me how to do that!"  
Iggy whistled again and Fang turned away and ran over to Iggy before tackling him playfully and I was left standing alone, breathing deeply, my heart hurting, and my head spinning with everything that had just happened in the last minute.  
This. I thought bitterly to myself. Is. Not. Over. Lissa.  
Not by a long shot…..and you better be ready for me tomorrow…Because I'm not always this nice…

* * *

Fang and I didn't talk about Lissa (or anything else) to each other the next morning.  
I told the younger guys as calmly as I could that we were going to have to go to the Carnival because Fang had thought it would be a good way to keep our cover (or so he told me). Needless to say, they didn't see it in quite the same way I did…  
"Sweet! We're going to a carnival!" Gazzy shouted happily and Angel looked at me hopefully,.  
"Max? Could you or Fang win me a stuffed animal at the Carnival? You know, like those big brothers and sisters on TV sometimes do? Please?"  
Her blue eyes were wide and hopeful, and I didn't want to disappoint her by saying no.  
Thankfully, Nudge interrupted and I was rescued from answering Angel's question.  
"Oh! Can we get cotton candy while we're there?! I love cotton candy! I remember I tried it somewhere before—can't remember exactly where, but it was really good! And now I like it a lot! Do you think they'll have cotton candy there?"  
"I'm sure they will, Nudge" Iggy told her grinning. "And if not, we can always grab something else to eat. They'll probably have loads of sugary-good foods in there…"  
I raised an eyebrow at the lanky blonde. "Sugary-good?' I questioned.  
"Yep" Iggy replied, still grinning, "sugary-good…"  
Fang walked into the room and the younger kids jumped up, eager to get going to the carnival. I stopped at the doorway and waited for Fang to go first.  
He simply stood there, and motioned for me to go first before I looked at him curiously and took a deep breath of air.  
"Are you wearing cologne?" I asked suspiciously. He shot me a what-are-you-crazy?-look and I sighed reluctantly before walking out the door.  
We headed outside and waited on the steps of the Best Western Hotel (it was the same hotel we had slept in last night, so it was easy for us to wait for Lissa and her friend there.)  
After a few minutes of waiting in the warm, summer air, We heard someone call out the name "Nick" and we turned to see Lissa and a dark-haired girl walking happily over to us.  
Alright…time to put Plan KLAFF into action… I thought determinedly to myself.  
I do beg your pardon?... My Voice said.  
I sighed to myself.  
You do realise that thinking up evil schemes to keep Fang from happiness isn't making you a better leader, nor is it bringing you any closer to saving –  
Saving the world...i know, I know. I grumbled. But what makes you think my plan is evil, huh? You don't even know what KLAFF stands for!  
I could hear my Voice chuckling in my head.  
I'm in your head, Max…. I know your thoughts….and I know that KLAFF stands for 'Keep Lissa Away From Fang'….Am I wrong?...  
I frowned at how accurate my Voice was.  
Don't start… I grumbled, just as Lissa arrived in front of us.  
"Hi guys!" she greeted, "This is my friend, Laura. I told her about you guys on the way here. So, are we ready to go?"  
"Last one there has to buy us dinner!" Gazzy shouted and he, Angel, and Nudge took off running.  
Lissa and her friend seemed a bit taken aback and I mentally told myself to remind those guys that we were trying to act "normal".  
After a moment, Lissa and her friend both laughed and said how cute they were before Lissa (that sneaky--) hooked her arm through Fang's and tugged him lightly to walk with her to the carnival.  
I had to refrain from snarling at her and was shocked when I saw Lissa's friend hook her arm through Iggy's and tugged him to follow her as well.  
What the heck are those witches doing my guys!?  
I put my hand on the girl, Laura's, arm protectively over Iggy.  
"Umm…Laura" I began but was cut off.  
"Don't worry" she said smiling kindly. "Lissa told me already that Jeff is blind."  
I did a double take in surprise that she knew that.  
"I'd thought I'd be nice and lead him to the carnival so you don't have to" she said, her eyes looking shy yet sincere.  
Oh great, I thought to myself.  
Iggy is more than able to walk on his own! I felt like yelling, but gave her a closed smile instead.  
"Thanks" I said, and then touched Iggy's elbow softly, telling him to go with her.  
Iggy nodded almost unnoticeably at me and then said thanks to Laura and she lead him away.  
We arrived at the carnival, which was noisy, loud, smelly, over crowded,(which meant to the other guys that it was wonderful)  
Throughout the day I would check on Iggy to make sure he was okay with Laura parading him around.  
He may be blind, but he's not stupid! Was the only thing I continually thought of when I saw Laura leading him cautiously around. But she was sweet, and she wasn't turning into an Eraser so I accepted that Laura was okay—just wanted to make Iggy comfortable.  
Other than that, I kept an eye on the younger kids, but my main focus was on that sly vixen—Lissa.  
She would smile, and laugh, and act all cute and shy when asking Fang to go on rides with her, and whenever I could I'd pull them over to a group ride instead, so she wouldn't be able to get too cozy with Fang.  
What? I was doing this out of his best interest. We were in no position to get attached to people—we were mutants on the run! Hel-lo!  
Finally we arrived at the Ferris wheel, a two-person only ride and I felt like smacking my head against the nearest solid object.  
Why are you so insistent on keeping Lissa and Fang apart , Max? Your jealousy is blinding you and keeping you from what you—  
Oh stuff a sock in it! I shot at my Voice, in no mood to hear that I was "jealous" or "wishing I was in Lissa's place" or how I was (still) "supposed to save the world."  
Stupid Voice…  
"Nick?" Lissa said. "Do you wanna come on the Ferris wheel with me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes sweetly. Before I knew what I'd done, I grabbed Fang's hand and tore it away from Lissa's.  
"Oh! Can we go on the Ferris wheel, Nick?" I asked. Fang shot me a confused and irritated look and I turned to Lissa sheepishly.  
"Nick always comes with me on these high rides, I just don't feel safe without him holding my hand…" I told her, playing a sweet, scared sister.  
Lissa (luckily) bought my act.  
"Oh" Lissa said, her voice betraying her disappointment. "Are you scared of heights?" she asked.  
"Yeah" I said quickly and Fang glared at me harshly.  
A deep voice chuckled from behind me.  
"That's ironic, I always thought you loved heights, Max…"  
My blood ran cold and I saw Fang stiffen beside me.  
…Ari.

* * *

OH SNAP!!!... Ari is here!? And we still have to deal with Lissa!?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

...okay, I'm done now.


	9. Whack An Eraser and Lissa's Kiss

Wow...you guys **REALLY** hate Lissa, don't you?

(And I mean **REALLY REALLY REALLY** hate her!)

...hehehe! So do I, so it's all good.

_--cue the evil laughter and lightning--_

Mwahahahahaha!

...Anyways, here's Chapter 9 -- you wonderful people you! Keep reviewing please too!

Enjoy!!!!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 9 

…Ari.  
This day just gets better and better I thought.  
I whipped around, in a fighting stance to see a full-Eraser Ari starring at us hungrily and I heard Lissa and her friend scream from beside us.  
Wimps.  
The other guys in the Flock immediately took their fighting stances too, and I heard people starting to scream as they noticed Ari and his goons begin to surround us.  
Since when had Erasers decided it was okay to transform in public? Usually we were always safe in large crowds! What were the whitecoats thinking? On second thought, knowing Ari, did the white coats even know about this?  
Ari snarled at me threateningly and I frowned at him.  
"Can't you guys just buzz off and take a vacation?" I asked him coldly, hating how his beady eyes flashed with humour.  
"But we are on vacation, Max….and we decided we'd do a little wildlife hunting…"  
A few Erasers laughed and barked hungrily at the bad joke and I raised an eyebrow at Ari quizzically.  
"You suck at telling jokes" I told him and I saw him clench his fists angrily before he growled.  
Hehehe…he was just too easy to annoy.  
"If you want a good joke…" I continued, mentally asking Angel to tell the others that they were not to use their wings while we were in plain sight.  
"Then do yourself a favour…take a look in the mirror! Cause your face is funniest thing I've ever seen!" I shouted and threw the nearest solid object at him (which happened to be a stuffed animal…oops.)  
He yelled furiously and tore through the animal with ease, and I jumped back from his razor sharp claws, doing a brief-360 as I did so.  
I saw that some people were running out of the carnival, while others were miles away from us, but torn between watching us be attacked and running for their own lives.  
Stupid people…I thought to myself. Now would be a good time to run! Or at least help us instead of just watching!  
Ari lunged at me again and I ducked before punching him hard in the stomach ad kicking his kneecaps, pleased when I heard one crack and he howled in pain.  
He swung around to punch me and hit him the jaw, before kicking him the stomach and then kicking his neck upwards, and he collapsed backwards.  
"Get a life!" I spat at him a kicked him one more time for good measure before turning to check on the others.  
Fang had taken down three already, and was punching out a fourth, but where are the others!? I thought.  
I heard Iggy yelp and I whipped around, prepared to protect my Flock members if necessary, only to come face to face with--  
What in the world!?  
I heard Iggy yelp and I whipped around, prepared to protect my Flock members if necessary, only to come face to face with--  
What the hell!?  
I burst out laughing and slapped a hand over my mouth, only break down laughing again…  
Oh gods! Iggy…  
Some-how ( lord knows how…) Iggy had managed to grab a stuffed mallet from the Whack-A-Mole game and was now (get this!) beating Erasers over the head with it—all of whom, I noted, were already unconscious and under Angel's mind control.  
"Whack-An-Eraser!!!" Iggy shouted gleefully, and Angel and Gazzy laughed before Iggy began rapidly smacking the useless mallet over the Eraser's heads again.  
I burst out laughing and couldn't help but smile at Iggy's happy-go-lucky attitude. He quickly threw the mallet over to Nudge who appeared beside him and she cackled happily before smacking an Eraser repeatedly over the head.  
I couldn't stop laughing uncontrollably and I nearly burst out into tears of happiness at seeing my Flock so care-free and happy.  
I love them all.  
I love them all so much.  
I love each and every one of them so damn much…  
"Nick! Oh my god!"  
My joyful moment was wrecked by (whom else) but Lissa as she called out Fang's name and ran over to him hurriedly.  
Fang was standing a couple feet away from me and the others, and I saw that he was checking the tag on the back of a fallen Erasers neck.  
Lissa threw her arms around Fang and hugged herself to him.  
"Oh my God! I was so scared!... And Nick! Oh God! You were so brave! You saved my life!!!" she exclaimed, looking at Fang as if he were the Lord Almighty himself.  
Uh, hello? I saved your butt too, red! And you sure ain't giving me any thanks for it! I thought angrily.  
I saw the rest of the Flock out of the corner of my eye and smiled at them as they walked over to us—Erasers unconscious behind them and Iggy holding the mallet proudly.  
Fang seemed at a loss for words and looked slightly uncomfortable, but neither he nor I had any idea about what would happen next.  
"Oh my God..." Lissa said (for the ump-teenth time). She smiled at Fang softly before placing her hands on either side of his head and pulled him into a kiss.  
…On the lips…  
…Deeply…  
…For longer than a few seconds…  
…And she kept on freakin' kissing him!!!!!!!!  
Any self-control I had snapped like a twig in that instant. I heard a furious, animalistic snarl and tried to turn around to see where the sound had come from. Or if any Erasers had returned for revenge.  
But I couldn't move my body.  
Fang looked completely surprised at Lissa kissing him and put his hands on her shoulders to push her away, but she only held on to him tighter.  
I suddenly found myself running forwards towards the two of them and I was shocked when I realised that I had been wrong—I could move my body…  
…but I couldn't control it.  
My body was running without my permission and (wouldn't you know it) I was heading straight for Lissa.  
Lissa finally seemed to realise that something was running at her and broke the kiss long enough to scream and jump out of the way of my flying fist. I felt my body turn to follow her but my mind was in shock.  
I can't believe I just tried to hit her… I began to panic as I heard another feral snarl and realised in fear that it was coming from me.  
What's happening to me? I thought in a dazed panic, fear coursing through me at the fact that I was unable to move.  
This, my dear Max, my Voice suddenly, is what it feels when you go into bloodlust…

* * *

**DUN DUN DUHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!**

...sorry, I had to do that...It's part of my authoring contract. LOL


	10. Max's Bloodlust

Hey guys!!!!

Chapter 10 is gonna be a short one...but it's suspensful, oh is it ever!

_--cue lightning in the background and scary music---_

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

_--cough cough!--_

Anyways, enjoy guys! And tell me what you think!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 10

I could've sworn my heart stopped for a second.  
I'm in bloodlust!? I mentally shrieked at my voice. A furious snarl was heard and I realised that those snarls were coming from me.  
Me! I sounded like an Eraser! Can you believe it!  
I made another swipe for Lissa and she squealed before ducking out of my punch.  
Unfortunately….that resulted in me cutting off a chuck of her pretty, red hair.  
Wait a sec!—cutting!?  
I was shocked to see that my nails had grown at least two inches longer and were now sharp as anything.  
Ho-ly…smokes…  
I heard myself growl again and saw the rest of my Flock behind me fearfully, and I knew that they were desperately wondering what in the world was going on today.  
First Fang, and now me...  
Why is this happening to me?! I asked my Voice.  
I told you before, that bloodlust happens specifically through the blood, and Fang has your blood in him—  
So what does that have to do with me going psycho?! I asked angrily. Just spit it out!  
Max… my Voice said in a warning tone, bloodlust happens through reaction by blood, but transfer can be attained through any means of extremely intimate contact whit another who posses the same line of blood…  
In English, please! I shouted, now beginning to panic as I felt myself stalking towards Lissa again.  
It means that Fang is a human–avian just like you! He transferred the bloodlust to you when you two were kissing!   
I did a double take.  
I thought you said it was through highly intmate contact!?  
Yes…meaning the exchanging of blood, or gender cells—  
I'm still a virgin, thank you! I shouted before my Voice could make a snappy remark  
…or through saliva, Max. Fang licked your lip as I recall, maybe even got his tongue in your mouth for all I know…but the point is, he gave his salvia to you and you digested into your body...now, you're in bloodlust…  
My heart hammed loudly in my ears at this statement.  
Is there any way I can get rid of it!? I asked desperately. My Voice laughed bitterly in my head.  
Unless you're willing to mate with Fang or Iggy or another humans-avian teenage boy you find...then no, Maximum, there is not...  
WHAT!? I mentally shrieked. You mean that the only way to get rid of bloodlust is through mating? What the hell do you mean by mating!?!?  
Simple, I mean se—  
NEVERMIND!!! I mentally yelled, in no mood or sanity to hear what my Voice was about to say. I'LL STICK WITH THE BLOODLUST, THANK YOU !!!  
I heard a fearful yell come from in front of me, and horrified, I realised that I was now holding Lisa threateningly by the throat. She whimpered at me and I heard a furious growl erupt from my throat.  
My heart skipped a beat and my blood ran cold.  
Oh Gods….please don't let me kill Lissa…oh Gods, no…no no no no no…  
My heart was thundering in my ears now and I felt my body break down into a cold, clammy sweat.  
NO! STOP! I yelled at myself, but my body had a mind of it's own.  
I distantly felt my hand raise, the other still holding Lissa by the throat, and I felt my nails –sharp as knives—itching to slice right through her neck.  
NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!! I mentally screamed, almost at the verge of tears. Sure Lissa bugged me and I was jealous of her in every way imaginable way, but she didn't need to die because of that!  
NO!!! I screamed again…  
…and that's when my hand flew towards her...

* * *

Errrr...I have no comment...

...except that alot of you seem to want Lissa to die.

So, this ending should be nice for you all. LOL


	11. We Need to Talk

NEXT CHAPPIE!!!!

Cause I'm just that cool...LOL. I hope you all like it!

And to everyone...I'm sorry--I just can't kill Lissa.

At least, not unless she does something _horrible_...but for now...she's inncoent so I have to ler her go.

But, I hope you like the chapter anyways!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 11

I heard her scream in horror before my clawed hand grabbed her roughly by the hair and dragged towards me until we were face to face  
Oh Gods…  
I swear that if I had control of my body, my kness would've given out from under me and I would've collapsed in shock and relief all at once.  
I had grabbed her hair, not killed her.  
Oh thank Gods… I muttered to myself quietly, hardly believing how thankful I was that I hadn't killed her.  
My body, however, made me bare my teeth threateningly at her and I heard myself tell her something, but it sounded slurred and droopy so I couldn't understand what I had said (don't you hate it when that happens?...)  
Lissa nodded her head vigorously at me and I threw her on the ground (ouch) before I whipped around and hauled Fang up by his shirt.  
Oh man! Not again!... I thought in disbelief. I saw more than felt Fang push my hand off of him and he stared at me worriedly. Here I was, dangerous and snarling and had nearly killed his little girlfriend, and he was worried about me!.  
Fang was indescribable and irreplaceable, and I lov-adored him for that…  
I heard Fang ask me something, but his voice was also slurred and sluggish—like I was hearing everything underwater, and I couldn't understand a word anyone was saying.  
I heard myself tell him something in a strong voice and Fang eyes widened slightly.  
Darn it! What did I just say?!...  
You do realise that talking to yourself is not going to help you come out of bloodlust…my Voice daunted.  
I heard myself say something else to Fang before I pulled myself into his arms, the same way Lissa had only a few moments ago.  
Hel-lo.  
I would've blushed and pulled away but (of course,) I had no control over my body. I started nuzzling my head into Fang's chest like a content cat, and wondered desperately when I was going to stop making a fool out of myself.  
I distantly felt Fang hesitantly put his arms around me, and I slowly felt warmth seeping into my skin….  
Wait a second!... I could feel my body again!...  
Fang's warmth slowly surrounded me, and as if waking up from a (really bad, frightening, not to mention slightly embarrassing) nightmare, I felt myself snap back into reality and the sounds and sights of everything suddenly became clear, and normal to me again.  
I let out a tiny groan, and felt Fang pull away from me.  
"Max?" he asked, his hands now on my shoulders.  
I looked around dazedly and saw that Lissa and her friend had taken off (gee, I wonder why?) and that my Flock was starring at me like I had grown two heads.  
Great…just the way I wanted to the end this day to end…not!...  
Fang's hand turned my face gently to look at him and I stuttered for words when I saw the confusion, realisation, and worry on his face.  
(Fang would never tell me he how he felt, I had learned that long ago, so I had long ago learned to read his face for his emotions.)  
"Whoa…" I hear Nudge say, and faintly realised that it was the first time Nudge had only said one word.  
I looked at them all guiltily. Here I was, supposed to be the leader, and now I had scared and confused them all—including myself.  
I had made a mess of everything….I had failed them…  
"You didn't fail us, Max" Angel said in a quiet, sweet voice. "You just scared us…we didn't now what to do t help you…" I smiled at her gratefully but couldn't get rid of the knot of guilt in my stomach.  
"What just happened?" I wondered out loud, more to myself than them.  
"Max…" Iggy went on, "Umm… I may be blind and all, but apparently you went crazy-jealous over Lissa. And you definitely let her know who's boss…." I looked up at him, remembering how I had said something I couldn't understand.  
"What did I say to her?" I asked, looking between them all.  
""Uhh…you kinda…umm" Gazzy stuttered, looking very nervous and lost. "Uhh—"  
"You said that I was yours, Max" Fang said, his voice unreadable and unwavering.  
I looked at him, dreading what was going to come next.  
"You told her that I was your guy and that she had no right to be anywhere near me. Then you threw her to the ground, asked me if I had any idea about how much it had hurt you seeing Lissa all over me, and then you threw yourself into my arms and started saying that I was yours over and over again, and that you didn't want any other girl to be with me unless it was you…"  
Gre-eat. I thought in embarrassment to myself, hardly believing what I had just heard.  
"I told you…that it hurt me when Lissa was with you…." I muttered.  
"Yeah."  
"And then…I put myself in your arms and told you that you were mine…"  
"Yeah."  
There was an awkward moment of silence as I forced myself not to run away or hide my head in embarrassment.  
"Ah!...okay..." I swallowed a lump in throat awkwardly. "Uhhh, well—"  
"Max" Fang said, his voice hard and firm, "You and I need to talk. Alone. Now..." he told me. I stuttered for words and he cut me off.  
"I'm not giving you a choice, Max. We need to talk. So let's go…"  
Fang grabbed my wrist before I could protest and I was torn between talking to him and addressing the Flock.  
"But who's gonna—"  
"Iggy, you're in charge until we get back" Fang said over his shoulder. "We won't be too long, but keep an eye out for Erasers, or any curious people. Alright?"  
"Got it" Iggy said, his voice strong.  
What?! Had Iggy known about this before-hand? I asked myself in surprise. He didn't seem the least bit phased by Fang dragging me away.  
"But I—"  
"No buts" Fang ordered and I sighed reluctantly.  
Of course Fang was right (as always.)The two of us did need to have talk about everything that was going on-- his bloodlust, my bloodlust, Lissa, Erasers, The Flock, and almost everything else. Tiredly, I sighed and muttered a quiet 'alright…'  
Fang made a motion to Iggy with his head before we both unfurled our wings, with him still holding my wrist, and we took off.  
We flew over top of the carnival and over the city itself, past the tall buildings and crowded streets, until Fang tugged my wrist gently and we both landed on a large, shady branch of a tree just outside of the city.  
I saw Fang lean back against the tree trunk and I looked away, not knowing what I possibly could say to make him forgive me and just make things normal again between us.  
Then again, could we ever go back to normal?  
I quickly shook the thought out of my head.  
No, I told myself firmly, everything will be fine. Don't even think about what could happen—it'll be fine. I'll apologize to Fang we both forget this happened and we'll be fine…  
Your being delusional, Max… My Voice said. After all that has happened you honestly believe that everything will just go back to normal?... I tried to warn you before …relationships only complicate things…your destiny lies in saving the world…not becoming Fang's girlfriend!--  
Would you just be quiet for once?! I said. I heard my heart thumping in my ears and my hands were clammy from nerves.  
My head is already pounding without you adding to it… I told my Voice in a much softer tone. Just…please, stop for now…let me try to work things out with Fang….he may hate me, but he's still…still...—  
Going to shoot you down in the end and leave you heartbroken my Voice hissed angrily.  
I filched as if someone had slapped me. It was possible…Fang could hate me and could never talk to me again. He could run away, he could take the Flock with him and—  
No! Snap out of it! I quickly scolded myself. Fang is your friend and he'll stay with you no matter what….right?...right!?...  
"Max?"  
Fang's voice rang through the air clearly and I was instantly drawn out of my thoughts. He was staring at me with an unreadable expression and my stomach twisted in sickened, worried knots.  
"Y-Yeah?" I asked, and almost hit myself when I realised that I had stuttered. Fang raised an eyebrow at me, and I knew that he had noticed it too.  
I never stutter (its one of the hundreds of things I do not do, because I am the Invisible, Super-Max. Whoot, whoot. Go me.)  
"What happened to you back there?" he asked his voice calm and soothing. Almost like he was trying to soothe me that everything was okay…  
Or he could just be trying to get some answers out of you and knows that yelling won't get him there...my Voice suggested harshly.  
My heart sank again.  
Why are you so set on keeping Fang and I apart?!  
Of course, there was no answer.  
"I…I don't know" I told him truthfully. He sat in silence and I knew that he was waiting for me to continue.  
"I just…one minute ago I was fine, then Lissa started kissing you and she wouldn't stop. And just then, it was like every thing clicked into place about who I am in life.  
I'm a teenage mutant at the age of 14 who's desperately on the run, supposed to look after five other guys on her own , get them food, water, a place to sleep, and everything else they need, protect them and herself from killers everyday, save the world, and is supposed to be invincible and strong. And then Lissa…"  
I had to struggle to breathe calmly.  
"Lissa was this perfect, happy, beautiful, smart, witty, friendly, _perfect_ girl that just suddenly dropped into our lives…and I felt like I had been replaced by you -- the one person I need to be there so that I can lean on you when it gets to be too much.  
And all she had to do was freaking smile at you and you would blush and melt at her feet …and I knew that no matter what I did -- even if I acted just like her from now until I died -- you would never look at me that way!! And so-- I don't know, I snapped! And then —"  
I slapped a hand over my mouth quickly and sat there in silent mortification. There wasn't a sound except for the leaves in the wind and I knew that any hope I had of things going back to normal had just been squashed by me and my big, blabbering mouth.  
Damn it! I mentally swore and turned my head away from Fang in shame.  
Fang was going to kill me. No…he wouldn't kill me…he would look at me in disgust, say something clear and harsh about how it was the truth-- he never would look at me that way, ever— and then he fly off to get away from me and I'd be left alone and heartbroken…  
….just like my Voice had said.  
Imagine my surprise, when a familiar, warm scent surrounded me and I was pulled into a pair of warm, strong arms.  
Fang's arms.

* * *

Err...to be continued!... 

...and Faxness is on it's way!

_--cue the suggestivbe eyebrow wiggle--_


	12. The Halleluiah Kiss and Rules

Wow...Lots of reviewers on the last chapter. LOL.

Now I know that if I want reviews all I have to do is dangle Faxness in front of you all. Thank you for reviewing!

And now...THE FAXNESS!!!!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 12

I tried to pull away, but Fang's arms held me tight and I pushed away from him, trying to break free of his grip.  
"Let go, Fang..." I said, making my voice cold as ice. Fang, (that stupid, stubborn, supportive, caring, comforting idiot that he is) only pulled me closer to him.  
"Let go!" I ordered and I felt Fang pull me flush against him, my head now buried into his hard chest.  
He laid his head on top of mine and I shifted under him, trying to tell him that I was uncomfortable. (Which I wasn't, but I had no plans of telling Fang how comforting it was to lay my head on his chest.)  
"Max..." he began, his voice sounding strong and unwavering.  
"Max…you will always see yourself as anything but perfect…what do you expect? We're a group of mutant kids on the run, with no idea of who our parents are or what we're supposed to do with our lives. But we have each other….that's all that matters…and I don't know about you, but that's all I really want. All I want is to have you guys with me everyday…and I thought you were smart enough to have realised that by now…" he told me gently.  
"But how can I know that if you—"  
"I'm quiet…I know…" he told me calmly, "but that's just who I am…if you want, I can start talking more and I can start joining you guys whenever you do something, instead of always standing off to the side…but…" he trailed off and I took a deep breath, feeling stupid and childish.  
"But then you wouldn't be Fang…" I finished and I felt him nod at me.  
"Max, I don't want you to think you have to do all this on your own…we want to help you…I want to help you…and believe it or not, I like it when you come to me and that you trust me enough to tell me when you're having trouble… seriously, Max!" Fang pulled away and ran a hand through his messy hair, and I saw the stubborn slant of his jaw and the fierce glint in his eyes. He turned to me, seeming at a loss for words, but his expression told me everything I needed to know.  
"I need you to understand..." he finally said, looking for the right words, "that no matter what…I want to be here to help you. But there are times when you're just so damn stubborn!..." He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head at me.  
"You're too stubborn for your own good…if you need help, tell me. Or if you're too stubborn to do that, then at least give me some kind of signal, alright?"  
Fang walked towards me and I saw a new glint in his eyes, one that surprised me a lot.  
"We'll do that..." he said, "If you're having trouble Max…I want you to give me some kind of signal. If you won't come to me and admit you need help...then let me come to you" he said, his voice firm in a way that there was no room for me to say 'no'.  
I almost laughed in relief, but smiled up at him instead, hoping he could understand just how much that had meant to me and how much I really needed him. He smirked softly, almost a grin, and shook his head at me before patting my head softly.  
"You really are as stubborn as an –"  
"Don't say it" I warned him and his smirk grew.  
I smiled back at him, hardy believing that I thought he hated me and was going to leave.  
I mean, he was Fang.  
And no matter what happened, he was always right there to support me or to pick me up and when I fell. (Which may sound incredibly cheesy — ugh! — but it's true. I can't deny it, no matter what.)  
And that's what I loved about him.  
And yes… I did say loved this time (I don't think I can deny that any longer, either.)  
And then, Fang did what I least expected.  
Fang (for the first time where I was sure he was bloodlust free and back to normal) leaned down and kissed me (again.)

…Halleluiah.

Unlike when we had kissed before, this one only lasted for a few seconds.  
But that one kiss made me feel like I was on top of the world…or flying above it, you get the point.  
He kissed me gently and sweetly for only a few moments our lips pressed lovingly against each, his scent and his warmth all around me. I could feel every part of his body pressed gently against mine, molding my body to his the same way he was doing to my lips, before he pulled away slowly from our kiss and I was left with his sweet, dark, delicious taste lingering on my lips.  
My eyes fluttered open as he pulled away and he smiled softly at me and I felt like I was I heaven….  
…Only to be drawn out of heaven by my Voice in my ear.  
Max! What do you think you're doing!? It hissed, like a parent who had caught their child up past curfew.  
I'm kissing Fang, I told it, feeling more confident and more sure than ever before as I talked to my Voice.  
Max! You or Fang could go into bloodlust at any moment! If that happens—  
I thought you said that there were ways to control bloodlust? I said in a calm tone. And neither Fang nor I is going into bloodlust now…so until you're ready to explain to me just how this bloodlust actually works then leave me with Fang…because right now, your running my happy-moment… I said before I smiled shyly up at Fang and pushed the Voice out of my head.  
"Umm, Fang?" I began cautiously, hardly believing what I was about to ask. My heart thudded in my ears and it felt like the air had gone still around me. But fang's kind, dark, mysterious… alluring…gorgeous...se—  
Whoa, Max! You're getting off track here…  
His dark eyes were looking at me calmly and patiently, and that alone gave me enough strength to finally ask him.  
"Fang….Are we…uhh, a couple now?..."  
He seemed taken aback by the question and gazed at me uncertainly. He looked away and I knew he was thinking over it in his head.  
After a few moments he shrugged his shoulders stiffly, the sign I usually got when he was telling me 'it's your call'. I looked at him in surprise for a few moments before had to force myself to keep a straight face.  
This I'll be good... I thought wickedly to myself.  
I let out a long, tired sigh, pretending to think over whether or not Fang and I should be "official." I tilted my head side to side as if debating about it in my head, but really I knew the answer.  
I watched Fang from the corner of my eye, secretly laughing when I saw how uncomfortable he looked.  
I let out another, long sigh as if I was irritated.  
"Fine..." I said rolling my eyes in mock boredom, "I guess we can be a couple…but I've got three rules, bud!"  
Fang looked confused at my sudden outburst and I had to stop myself from laughing.  
"Don't hold my hand in public, don't kiss me in public, and I don't wanna hear that you've been telling your guy friends how hot I am, got it?"  
Fang's eyes widened by an inch and then lowered teasingly as he pretended to glare at me.  
"I'll try to control myself…" he muttered and I burst out into a grin. I smiled at him before realizing that the Flock must have been waiting for us.  
"Good, now come on, let's go. The Flock is probably waiting for us" I told him. Fang shrugged his shoulders and spread his wings. "I told Iggy to wait for us in case we took a while" he said.  
"Aha!" I burst out.  
Fang shot me a what-the-heck-do-you-think-your-doing?-look and I gave him a sheepish grin in response.  
Hehehe...oops.  
"Before we left, I was wondering if you and Iggy had planned this" I told him. He raised an eyebrow and nodded at me.  
"Yeah, I didn't know when, but I told Iggy that was going to have to talk to you alone about the whole bloodlust and Lissa thing, and he offered to watch over the others when I left with you" Fang explained.  
"Oh…great..." I said, slightly surprised. Fang smirked in amusement and motioned with his head for me to take off.  
"Come on, your probably right though. They'll be waiting for us" he said.  
A deep, rough laugh I knew only too well came from behind us.  
"What makes you think your friends are still there?" I heard Ari say.  
Uh-oh...

* * *

_--CK starts sobbing--_

It's BEAUTIFUL!!!!

She loves him!!!! And Fang is so sweet!!!!

_--sigh--_

...but if only there wasn't always those darn interuptions!!! LOL


	13. Shirtless Fang Equals Bloodlust, Duh

_--CK wolf whistles--_

Da-ang! LOL.

You guys are flying through my chapters. I'll have to start writing alot faster...and posting longer chapters.

Anyways, here's the next chapter guys, and I hope you all like it!!!

There's quite a few twists in this chapter, as well as an actual explanation on bloodlust for those who wanted to know. Enjoy!!!!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 13

Fang and I jumped up and unfurled our wings, turning in the air to count how many goons Ari had brought with him.  
Imagine or surprise when we turned around, fully prepared to fight a whole swarm of Erasers, only to see---  
Gazzy and the Flock laughing guiltily behind us.  
My shoulders slumped in relief but stiffened again when I realised just what had happened.  
"Gazzy!" I yelled, "Don't ever do that again! You are so lucky that Fang and I took off before we turned around to fight! One of us could've punched you in the face because we thought you were Ari! No more voice tricks Gazzy, especially not like that!" I scolded him.  
Gazzy's blue eyes instantly dulled and looked up at me apologetically. I saw him bite his lower lip and look up at my with big-blue-eyes and my heart melted.  
"I'm really sorry, Max" he said sincerely, looking incredibly guilty and ashamed of himself.  
I let out a soft sigh and looked at him softly. He was only a kid, and he deserved to have a little fun once in a while since we were running for our lives everyday…  
"No" I said, "I'm sorry, Gazzy. I shouldn't have said that. You just…I don't want to accidentally hurt you. Okay? Just be careful when you do your voice tricks…" I trailed off.  
Gazzy nodded quickly at me, but I could still see the guilt in his eyes.  
Darn it! Now I'm Max the Horrible…  
Iggy put a comforting hand on Gazzy's shoulder and gave him a happy, lopsided grin.  
"Come on Gasman, how about we show the girls how to blow stuff up and we'll leave Max ands her boyfriend alone for a while. What do you say, bud?" Iggy asked in a care-free tone.  
Gazzy's eyes instantly lit up and he broke out into a big smile, quickly grabbing Iggy's hand excitedly.  
"Sweet! Do you think we could try making a Gamma23? I head that they're blast is like, so awesome! And I…" Gazzy continued to chatter away happily, and this was one of the few times I wished more than anything that Iggy wasn't blind.

Just so that Iggy could see the smile on Gazzy's face….

….and so that he could see the way I was glaring at him.  
Fang is not my boyfriend! I mentally yelled, only because yelling that out loud would've made me look even stupider than I already am.  
Whoops! I mentally smacked myself. Speaking of stupid…  
Fang is your boyfriend now I reminded myself.  
But how did that happen!? I silently wondered. I mean, I'm definitely not the type of flirty, out-going girl who asks guys if they want to be a couple. I'm the mutant-teenage-freak who gets paranoid whenever a guy looks at her! Let alone asking him to go out with her! What was I thinking!? I must have been—  
"Max?"  
Fang's voice snapped my back into reality and I stuttered for words.  
"I…uhh, yeah?" I said.  
Fang smirked softly.  
"You do realise that Iggy and Gazzy are about to blow up something that could attract a lot of attention to us…" Fang stated. Immediately, my eyes widened and I mentally cursed.  
"Iggy!" I yelled out quickly. "Don't even think about blowing up that—".  
A loud, earth-shaking boom resounded all around us and Gazzy burst out into a happy laugh and Iggy grinned ecstatically.  
"That was so cool!" Gazzy shouted. Nudge and Angel were laughing now too.  
Iggy cleaned out his ear before he turned to me.  
"What'd you say Max?" he asked innocently.  
Lord help me…  
"Iggy!" I protested, but the sound of sirens suddenly drowned out my voice.  
"Uh-oh…" Fang muttered quietly.  
"Guys! U and A! Now!" I told them and we all took of swiftly into the air. I heard Iggy mutter an 'oops!' of apology to me but I shrugged it off and told him it was okay.  
The sirens got quieter as we got higher up into the air, but I could see that they had gotten a lot closer to where we had all been just moments ago.  
Rule #1 of running from the School: Never trust anyone—especially not the authorities.  
"Guys! Let's head back to the hotel!" I shouted to them, and they all nodded before we headed back.  
We arrived back at the hotel only minutes later and just then it struck me that maybe I should feel guilty.  
I mean, I had wrecked the guys day at the carnival, ruined Fang's date with Lissa, ruined Iggy's chance of having Laura become his girlfriend, scared my flock and a hundred other people, ripped out Lissa's hair, and practically attacked Fang.  
…I really need to work on my social skills I thought to myself.  
The others split up into their rooms when we arrived back, and Fang and I headed back to the room we were sharing (since this hotel was booked and we could only afford three rooms…again.)  
I slipped into the shower and changed into some pyjamas, before letting Fang do the same.  
While Fang was showering and changing, I found myself being visited (unfortunately) by my Voice.  
Maximum…  
Ye-ah? I answered lightly.  
You wanted to know about bloodlust? Very well, I'll give you all that you need to know…  
I almost fell off the bed in surprise. Had my Voice actually listened to my orders?! Whoa, talk about weird! (But then again, who am I to judge…)  
Bloodlust is attained through blood, but can be transferred through any form of intimate contact—such as scratches, bites, saliva—  
We've been through all this before! I protested. What don't I know about bloodlust? I asked.  
Well, bloodlust is similar to when animals go into heat. So like heat, it has a time period and expatriation time—  
Wait! I mentally said in surprise. You mean that bloodlust has an expiration date?  
That's one way to think of it...yes, Max…  
When is it? How long? I quickly asked.  
Always so impatient Max My Voice teased, But very well, I'll tell you…   
Well, bloodlust is similar to when animals go into heat. So like heat, it has a time period and expatriation time — my Voice explained.  
Wait! I mentally said in surprise. You mean that bloodlust has an **expiration date**?  
That's one way to think of it... yes, Max...  
When is it? How long? I quickly asked.  
Always so impatient Max My Voice teased, but very well, I'll tell you…  
Bloodlust usually lasts for about 7 to 12 days, Max. And since Fang has been in bloodlust for about 4 days and you started your bloodlust cycle today, Fang has—using variables of course—approximately 5 days left, and you have 8. Is that easier to understand, Maximum?  
Only a few more days!? Yes! Thank you! I silently praised, happy that the end of this stupid bloodlust was in sight.  
However, my Voice chimed in. You need to be wary of this in the future. Bloodlust cycles in human-avians are much more complex genetically than an animal's heat. You may go into bloodlust every 4-5 years for this week-long to twelve-day period. Understood, Max?   
Also, you should know that bloodlust happens mainly through physical attraction, but one can go into bloodlust while protecting or feeling that their 'mate' is in danger or is being stolen from them. Which would explain why Fang went into bloodlust when Ari attacked you, and why you attacked Lissa today….  
My Voice finished, but before I could reply about attacking Lissa, I turned instinctively at the sound of the bathroom door clicking open. Fang walked out of the bathroom, and my mouth went dry at the sight of him.  
He was shirtless.  
Hel-lo…  
My mind went blank and I found myself looking over him without thinking. He was shirtless and I was amazed (or any other word you can think of to describe) at how toned Fang's body was. He had some major pectoral muscles and his stomach was toned and firm and abs were…were…  
I can't even think straight… I thought dazedly. My mind went completely blank after that and it took all my strength not to pull Fang towards me just so I could tell him how much he was driving me crazy right ow.  
I could see little water droplets still clinging onto his skin from the shower and his scent was everywhere…such an alluring scent….so...so…  
Max My Voice spoke up suddenly. You do realise that everything I told you about bloodlust is important? And that you still have 8 days left of bloodlust as Fang does 5, which is a reminder that you should not be drooling over him right now…  
I'm not drooling… I heard myself mentally say.  
Of course not, my Voice retorted. Which is why you've just gone into instinctual bloodlust…   
WHAT!? I quickly tried to stand up and found myself doing exactly what I wanted.  
I mentally glared at my Voice.  
I can control my body, thank you! I shot at him. Only to hear a feral growl—no, more like a satisfied purr come out of my throat as I looked at the shirtless Fang up and down.  
Uh-oh…  
"Max? Are you okay?" I heard Fang say and another loud purr erupted from my throat before I found myself pinning Fang to the wall and practically crushed myself to him.  
My mouth was on his instantly and I was kissing him with a ferocity I didn't know I had.  
Fang seemed stunned for a moment, and suddenly his body seemed to mould to mine and I found myself in Fang's spot, pinned to wall. Fang was suddenly kissing me hungrily and I found myself kissing him just as harshly.  
What the---  
Congratulations Max! My Voice hissed bitterly. You've now got both yourself and Fang in bloodlust, and neither one of you can control yourself…  
I was mentally frozen in shock at this.  
...don't do anything illegal… my Voice spat at me.  
I could've sworn my heart stopped.  
Oh my (insert-swear-word-of-your-choice-here-to-describe-how-utterly-screwed-up-this-is) God …  
Fang and I are so dead.

* * *

Err...hottie alert...

Fang Fangirls, please cover your eyes to refrain from drooling over your keyboard...

And possibly breaking the computer screen because of this cliffhanger.

_--cough cough--_

Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!! LOL


	14. Jeb ! ? And The Bloodlust Bet

Guess what guys, guess what!?!?

**It's Odet Mae's birthday**!!!

WOOT WOOT!!! Happy birthday Odet Mae!!!

So in honour of her birthday, I'm posting the next chapter!

I hope you all like it--especially you Odet Mae!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 14

"Max? Are you okay?" I heard Fang say and another loud purr erupted from my throat before I found myself pinning Fang to the wall and practically crushed myself to him.  
My mouth was on his instantly and I was kissing him with a ferocity I didn't know I had.  
Fang seemed stunned for a moment, and suddenly his body seemed to mould to mine and I found myself in Fang's spot, pinned to wall. Fang was suddenly kissing me hungrily and I found myself kissing him just as harshly.  
What the---  
Congratulations Max! My Voice hissed bitterly. You've now got both yourself and Fang in bloodlust, and neither one of you can control yourself…  
I was mentaly frozen in shock at this.  
...don't do anything illegal… my Voice spat at me.  
I could've sworn my heart stopped.  
Oh my (insert-swear-word-of-your-choice-here-to-describe-how-utterly-screwed-up-this-is) God …  
Fang and I are so dead.  
Fang lips were on my own in an instant and mine were practically glued to kiss. We were both kissing so fiercely so…passionately, that my head started to spin from the pleasure.  
But his lips just tasted so damn good….so damn sweet…  
Fang's hard, lean arms were suddenly around my waist and I threw my arms over his shoulders, drawing him even closer so I could taste more of him.  
It was obvious that Fang was the dominant one in our kiss, but I was not complaining. He suddenly pulled away from me teasingly, making me whimper in protest before I was pushed roughly on to the bed and Fang hovered over me.  
Damn he looks so sexxy like that… I thought dazedly, hearing a needing whimper come out of my throat when Fang's lips left my own. An animalistic snarl rose from deep within Fang's throat, almost like a groan, and he crushed his lips to mine again, much to my happiness.  
I tilted my head to get more of Fang's lips on my on, and that was when Fang teasingly licked my lower lip. A satisfied noise came from deep in my throat and Fang crushed my lips hard to his, his tongue slipping into my mouth before I knew what had happened.  
His tongue was tempting me, teasing me as it explored my mouth slowly driving my crazy with want. He continued to torture me like this before he pulled away, my head hazy with pleasure and he grinned a feral, smug grin down at me before he licked his lips at my taste.  
That cocky little…  
Growling in frustration, I crushed his lips again to my own and he more-than-readily let me, slipping his tongue back into my mouth. He teased me again with his tongue and I was too happy with the moment to be ashamed when another husky sound rose from my throat. So... damn…good…  
Faintly, I heard a light tap on the door but shrugged it off running my hands through Fang's thick hair and continuing to kiss him. Fang lifted me up off the bed and pulled to him till our bodies were practically pressed against each other. I kissed him even more fiercely at this, and I felt Fang's hands slip teasingly into the back of my shirt.  
"Max?!" a voice shouted from outsides the room , and Fang pulled away in surprise, my eyes fluttering open at the sound too, only to feel as though I could die of embarrassment.  
Fang and I had practically groped each other! Oh gods! And we…I…he -- he had his hand up my shirt! Up. My. Shirt! And I liked it!  
Oh my gods! I mentally screamed. I'm never gonna—  
"Max!" the voice came more urgently from outside the door, the knocking now louder and quicker on the door.  
I heard myself growl, still in bloodlust mode, and I was almost relieved yet also slightly ticked that someone had interrupted my make-out with Fang. I swung the door open and growled angrily, only for it to end in a surprised yelp when I saw someone I didn't expect to see…someone I didn't want to see…  
… Jeb.  
"Jeb!?" I shouted (accidentally) in shock.  
He looked at me adoringly for a moment before he shot a hard, cold look past me.  
What? Why would he—oh! Uh-oh….  
Fang was still sitting on the bed—shirtless (still, not that I was complaining), but he was breathing heavily and his eyes were still slit and slightly glassy.  
Which Jeb could take three ways… I thought distractedly.  
Jeb could think that :  
A) Fang was drunk/high.  
B) Fang and I were sharing a room and had just been in the midst of a major make-out session.  
C) Fang and I were both slightly high on our bloodlust and we were sharing a room and we had been in the midst of a major make-out session that could have (and probably would have), lead to something more if Jeb hadn't interrupted us.  
Hmm….tough choices….….Guess which one Jeb chose?...  
"Maximum? What on earth are you doing in the same room as Fang?!" he questioned angrily, yet his eyes flashed with concern.  
"Umm...checkers?" I offered jokingly, still unable to believe that Jeb of all people was standing outside the door.  
How did he know where the Flock and I were!?  
Unfortunately, Jeb didn't get the checkers joke…  
"Max! This bloodlust is not a game! What could have happened if I hadn't knocked on your door just now?" Jeb said worriedly. "What if something had happened to you? Do you know how worried I've been all week?! Once I heard news that Fang had gone into bloodlust from your blood donation, I knew it would only be a matter of time before you too became—"  
"Whoa!" I said. "Jeb…take it easy" I said. "Now a couple questions-how did you know I was here? How do you know about bloodlust? What do you want? And do you have an army of Erasers hiding somewhere behind you?" I asked him.  
Jeb smiled warmly at me, as if I was a child who had just done something incredibly cute (like Angel when she was mind-controlling someone).  
"Of course not, Max. I just came to talk to you…  
"And Fang..." I asked hopefully.  
Jeb seemed to falter but shot Fang a disapproving look. "Yes, Fang too..." he finally said, but it didn't sound too happy about it.  
Without waiting for an invitation (how rude) Jeb strolled into the room and sat down.  
"Now listen, I know that the two of you are currently in bloodlust—"  
"Thanks for stating the obvious" Fang said. I had to stifle a laugh and Jeb looked almost sadly at Fang.  
"Yes, well, I've found a solution that can ends all this crazy madness, once and for all" Jeb said calmly.  
My jaw nearly hit the floor.  
This was what I had been hoping for! Something to get rid of this stupid, weird, slightly scary bloodlust and then Fang and I could go back to being normal!  
(Well…as normal as we can be… since we have wings, we grew up in the School, we've made out a couple timers, I nearly killed his ex-girlfriend—haha! You hear that Lissa? You're the ex!…. And we blah blah blah, etc. etc.)  
But what was the catch? I wondered. Good things do not come without a price…a very high price I was guessing in this case…  
"What's the catch?" Fang asked, voicing what I had just been thinking.  
"No catch" Jeb said, "Really, I just wanted to make sure that you two don't hurt each other or anyone else, so I've brought the antidote with me" Jeb said in a kind voice.  
He almost seemed sincere…and I felt a wave of warmth go through me, and I wondered if it was possible that Jeb actually, truly cared…like he used to when we were all living together….  
And then Jeb had to ruin it all and pull out a very, big, long, scary looking needle.  
And I hate needles. In fact the only person who hates needles more than me…  
Is Fang.  
…Ironic, isn't it?  
"Max," Jeb said kindly, "All you—"  
"You are not touching her with that needle" Fang growled out in a voice cold as ice.  
Jeb and I were both surprised at this, but when Jeb tried to reassure Fang, it obviously didn't work.  
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It…" Fang hissed coldly. "You try to touch her with that needle I will break your bones. Got it?" he said harshly. Jeb seemed very annoyed at this, I felt almost flattered by it.  
Fang suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Jeb before I could protest.  
"Excuse us" Fang muttered and he pulled me into the bathroom before locking the door.  
"Fang!" I said in surprise. "What are you—"  
"You know I hate needles, Max" Fang said simply, "And I don't trust Jeb…I can't….it's just too perfect that he shows up with an antidote, in the middle of Texas, far away from the School, because he wants to help…it's too…too…" Fang trailed off and looked into my eyes, hoping that I would understand—which I did. Perfectly.  
"Too planned" I finished. Fang nodded at me.  
What makes you think you need an antidote Max? My Voice asked slyly. I've never even heard of there being an 'antidote' for bloodlust before….and with only a few days left too…   
My head shot up as my Voice whispered this in my ear, and I was suddenly, struck with crazy (but-just-crazy-enough-to-work) plan.  
"We can wait it out" I muttered, more to myself than Fang, but he heard me anyways.  
"What?' He asked me curiously.  
"We can wait the bloodlust out!" I said, a small smile breaking over my face. "I forgot to tell you! My Voice says that Bloodlust will only last a few more days—a week at most, and then it's gone until we're 18, 19. All we have to do is wait it out, keep away from each other for the next coupe days and we're home-free! I agree with you about the whole Jeb thing!...not to mention that needle is way-too-big for my liking….do think it'll work?' I asked him. Fang looked at me with a-what-did-you-eat-for-dinner-tonight-that's-made-you-crazy-look, but then seemed to ponder over the thought for a few minutes his face deep in thought.  
…but even then he looked so—  
Don't start, Max I quickly warned myself, before I started drooling over him again (okay, scratch the again. No-one can know that I've drooled over Fang before….but it was when he wasn't looking, of course...)  
"It could work..." Fang said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "But the likelihood of us actually doing it isn't too high…we see each other everyday…we're close to each other everyday…I don't think we can pull this off…" he told me calmly. That calm tone, made me angry for some reason, but he did have a point…  
"I guess you're right" I told him, thinking it over carefully. "It would be crazy of us to even try to avoid the bloodlust… I said.  
Fang nodded solemnly, and I had to turn my head away to stop him from seeing my smirk.  
"I mean…you can hardly keep your hands off me, so it'd be almost impossible for you to do it…" I said simply, secretly laughing with delight when Fang's head shot up and his eyes flashed with a challenge.  
Hit a man's pride…and ladies and gentlemen! We've got ourselves a winner!...  
"Excuse me?" Fang said in a low voice. "I wouldn't be able to control myself?...this coming from the girl who jumped me after my shower—"  
"You were walking around shirtless… practically parading yourself..." I defended.  
Fang's eyes flashed again in a way that made me shiver with excitement.  
"Bet..." Fang muttered and I gave him a confused look. Fang only grinned at this.  
"I bet you that you'll be the first one to go back into bloodlust…" Fang said, his voice low and laced with a challenge. I raise my eyebrows at this which made Fang's grin widen. "If you don't think you'll be able to keep your hands off me, you can always just say 'no'…Fang suggested in a tone too sweet.  
That tricky little…  
"I re-bet you that you'll be the first to go into bloodlust..." I shot at him. "You've attacked me three times, so there's no way you'll go a week without you begging for me to kiss you!"  
"Keep dreaming…" Fang muttered. "About me kissing you!" My eyes widened again and I let myself open my mouth in mock awe.  
Fang wanted a bet…oh, he'll get a bet! I thought to myself.  
"First one to go into bloodlust loses…" I shot at him.  
"Deal. Winner gets what?"  
"Anything they want!" I told him angrily. If Fang thought he was going to win over me that guy was in for the surprise of his life when I kicked his butt!  
Fang's jaw slanted slightly and his eyes were bright with the challenge. "Your. On." Fang said, his voice husky and teasing. I smiled wickedly back at him. "Good luck" I muttered.  
Fang smirked back at me.  
"I don't need it…you'll be begging for me to kiss you. Guaranteed you're going to lose…" he said. I couldn't help but smiling wickedly again.  
The bloodlust-free bet was on!!!

* * *

Boo-yah!!!

...err...yeah... LOL


	15. Bloodlust CURE ! ?

Wow...this story is practically flying by. LOL.

I'll have to start posting the chapters slower...

Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it!!!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 15 

On the outside, I was grinning wickedly at the fact that Fang and I had just gotten ourselves into a bloodlust bet—which I was going to win of course. But on the inside, I was fuming….not from anger, but frustration.  
How dare Fang say those things! He was so cocky and arrogant! Argh! He had no—  
"Maximum..." Jeb's voice floated through the door and into my ears, snapping me out of my thoughts. His tone sounded slightly worried but also like a warning. I almost snorted with distaste. Did he think that Fang and I were making-out or something? Jeez….  
I let out a reluctant sigh and shot a quick look over my shoulder at Fang before walking out of the bathroom.  
Jeb was still (thankfully) sitting where we had left him, but that needle he was holding was still in his hand casually. As if he sensed my un-ease at the needle, Jeb tucked it away in the pocket of his white coat.  
"Forgive me, Max" he said in a warm, soothing tone. "I should have remembered your fear of needles from the School…I hope I didn't scare you too—"  
"I'm not scared" I told him firmly. Honestly, I was scared though, but I wasn't about to tell Jeb that…even though a part of me wanted to…  
I mean don't get me wrong, Jeb was a whitecoat and he probably always will be. But he had also been the only kind-of father I'd ever known. He released us from the School and gave us a home, he taught me how to fight, how to be a leader, and he taught us all how to fly… you can't just forget things like that …  
Jeb was evil—I knew that.  
But he had been my security, the one person I could go to when things were bad and I didn't know what to do. He was always the one who would reassure and protect me. But now--  
You have Fang now… My Voice whispered in my ear. Jeb is the past, and you cannot move towards the future if you are constantly looking back to the past…Fang is your future and Jeb has no place there…  
My heart hammered in my ears and my breath hitched...  
I was stunned.  
As in completely stunned to the point where it felt like I couldn't breathe.  
Fang is your future….those four words were chanting in my head like a horrible song. Why would my Voice say that? Did my Voice know something about the future that I didn't? Was something going to happen to Fang? Was something going to happen to me? To Jeb?...  
I thought my Voice hated Fang! Or at least disliked him…. How—what!?...I—  
"Max? Are you alright?" Jeb asked suddenly.  
As if I had been punched in the stomach, I was brought back to reality to see everything spinning before my eyes.  
"I…I-I'm fine" I muttered to Jeb, seeing him take on a look of worry and quickly stand up.  
"Max!" Fang's voice called out and instantly I felt his presence beside me.  
I turned to Fang and saw him looking at me with concern deep within his dark eyes. I must've looked horrible because Fang's eyes flashed when I met his gaze and he whipped around to face Jeb. I recognized the strong set of his jaw and the way his lips hardened into a straight line, the way his expression took on a hard, stern look.  
And that could only mean that Fang was pissed.  
Trust me when I say, that I've been with Fang through childhood, dog-crate years, freedom, experiments, and more… and Fang does not get pissed off easily.  
But when he does….well….anyone in his way better get out of his way. Fast. "What did you do to her!?" Fang asked, his voice hard as stone.  
Jeb seemed surprised and hurt at this accusation, but his face sank into a frown as he glanced at me.  
"I would never hurt her…." Jeb said, his sincerity strong in his voice.  
Fang practically growled at him.  
"I don't care-- what's wrong with her! What did you do!?"  
"Fang..." Jeb said in a warning tone. "Now be—"  
"Tell me now" Fang said. Jeb's face dropped into a frown again and he shook his head as if he were disappointed.  
"Fang…all I want to do is help her. To help you too…I would never hurt her. I came here to inject you both with the antidote and to reso9lve you both of Bloodlust before you end up hurting yourselves or any one else. But we don't have much time…the other whitecoats will realise that I've taken the serum soon, so we need to do this now…. Can't you trust me?" Jeb pleaded softly. Fang's grip on my shoulders tightened and I could hear the tenseness in Fang's voice.  
"We can't trust anyone..." Fang said (Which is the best piece of advise I've ever been given.)  
Jeb shook his head again sadly and I saw that the room was beginning to stop twirling. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and saw Jeb slowly pull the needle out again from his pocket.  
Uh oh…  
"Fang...Max…you need to understand that this serum is to help you. I'm here to help you…" Jeb pleaded kindly. "Without this, you both could—"  
"We have our own ways to deal with bloodlust, thank you" Fang snarled bitterly. "Now leave….because you're not welcome here and neither are your crappy excuses! Now leave!"  
Ouch! Talk about Fang getting personal... I thought dazedly.  
Jeb's face sunk with disappointment and he sighed, running his free hand through his beginning-to-gray- hair.  
"I didn't want to do this…but if that's truly how you feel then so be it..." Jeb said.  
My chest tightened and adrenaline began to pump itself through my veins as Jeb spoke. Suddenly, he was starting to freak me out and he didn't seem so innocent anymore. At all.  
Fang's grip tightened protectively on my again and we both bent at the knees, knowing that there was something—most likely bad—that Jeb was hiding from us.  
"I'm so sorry, Max, but this is for your own good..." Jeb said with a tender, apologetic smile.  
Before I had timer to ask him what he meant, let alone to blink, the hotel window shattered across the floor and our door was violently thrown open.  
Fang and I instinctively moved back from the door and broken window, only to hear the bathroom window behind us smash too. Fang pulled me protectively into him and I took up a defensive, fighting stance.  
It was Erasers.  
Tons of them were suddenly swarming into our room—all because Jeb had ordered them to do so and because he had them waiting outside.  
That liar!!!!  
I felt hate curl through my blood at the fact that (once again) Jeb had betrayed and tricked us.  
I was furious and I knew that Fang was going to be even more pissed than before at this fact, as snarling, smug, idiotic Erasers circled us.  
I kept a cautious, close eye on all of them, but from the corner of my eye I could still see Jeb sitting there in disappointment. Almost as if to say 'If only you just followed my orders and played the good little mutant puppets, I wouldn't have had to call in a giant swarm of Erasers, sweetheart.'  
Jeb was so going to get his.  
If only to make the party all the more fun (note my sarcasm), I saw two Erasers dive for Fang, and a rough paw twisted itself over my mouth.  
I struggled to kick whoever was behind me, only to have my arms pinned behind my back and to hear an all-too-familiar chuckle behind me.  
Ari…  
Again.  
I heard Jeb sigh loudly and he stood up, brushing a piece of dirt off his jacket casually. Funny how mad scientists can ignore the fact that there's a room full of wolf-men right in front of them, holding the things they supposedly want to 'help.'  
That sick, little—  
"I'm sorry, Maximum…" Jeb said, his voice almost sounding sincere. I would have spit at him if Ari didn't have his hand over my mouth.  
'I know how much you dislike needles, but I can't risk you hurting yourself…this needle may hurt for a moment, but after that I promise it'll all be okay…" Jeb said.  
My eyes widened on their own accord and I instinctively began to fight against Ari's hold.  
No…  
Images of me having needles pinned and poked into me at the School flashed in my head and I began to struggle even harder.  
No!  
"Max…don't struggle, you'll only hurt yourself..." Jeb said calmly and removed the lid of the needle. I tried to swear at him, but it came out as a muffled noise. Jeb sighed sadly again and I heard Ari snarl in irritation as I squirmed against his hold.  
"Ari, hold her still...she can't struggle or it'll worsen the pain…" Jeb ordered. The grip around me tightened and I winced, before shooting a furious look at the (stupid-smug-bratty-iditotic-he-thinks-he's-all-that-and-a-bag-of-potato-chips) Ari, who smiled evilly behind me.  
"Awww... the little birdie doesn't wanna get her shot?" he mocked, baring his teeth at me.  
I tried to swear again, and heard a loud yelp come from another Eraser.  
"Jeb!!!" Fang screamed, his eyes blazing with so much fury that I was scared for a moment.  
"You dirty bast—" Fang was silenced as another Eraser who slapped a rough paw over his mouth. His fellow Eraser was growling at Fang now, but was holding his hand defensively.  
Fang was named 'Fang' for a reason, you idiot… I thought humorously to myself.  
Jeb stepped towards me with the needle, and all humour vanished from my mind. I started to struggled again but Ari tightened his grip, and my breath left me with a 'whoosh' as I was pinned still.  
"Max, please don't fight it…you'll only worsen the pain. I promise it'll be over in less than a second, sweetheart" Jeb said with a reassuring smile.  
Hell no!  
Jeb took hold of one of my shoulders gently yet firmly and rolled up the sleeve of my T-shirt. The pale skin on my forearm was revealed and I heard Ari let out an anxious growl of anticipation—probably loving the fact that I was squirming right now.  
A muffled shout came across the room and (to my complete horror) I saw that Fang was being pinned the floor by three Erasers. There was no way he could reach me…  
For the first time, real panic built up in my chest.  
We were surrounded by Erasers, the rest of the Flock were probably sleeping, and if they weren't, they were too far away to get here before Erasers grabbed them. Even worse, Fang was pinned down and there was no way he could stop Jeb. There was no way I was strong enough right now to brake Ari's hold and if Fang wasn't going to be able to help me …who could?...  
Jeb took hold of one of my shoulders gently yet firmly and rolled up the sleeve of my T-shirt. The pale skin on my forearm was revealed and I heard Ari let out an anxious growl of anticipation—probably loving the fact that I was squirming right now.  
A muffled shout came across the room and (to my complete horror) I saw that Fang was being pinned the floor by three Erasers. There was no way he could reach me…  
For the first time, real panic built up in my chest.  
We were surrounded by Erasers, the rest of the Flock were probably sleeping, and if they weren't, they were too far away to get here before Erasers grabbed them. Even worse, Fang was pinned down and there was no way he could stop Jeb. There was no way I was strong enough right now to brake Ari's hold and if Fang wasn't going to be able to help me …who could?...  
"No, wait! Stop!" Jeb suddenly shouted as I struggled in Ari's hold. He pulled back the needle and I almost stopped struggling—almost—in shock at what Jeb had just done.  
"Ari! Loosen your hold on her before she hurts herself!" Jeb ordered firmly. I heard Ari snarl angrily behind me and his grip tightened.  
I gasped for breath and saw Jeb gave Ari a cold look, causing Ari to snarl in anger…but Ari loosened his hold on me enough so I could breathe.  
I took in a deep breath of air, but still continued to fight Ari's hold.  
Jeb stared at me as if I had suddenly turned into a princess (or something valuable…you get the point) and he snapped his fingers demandingly.  
"You!" Jeb said in a low tone to a nearby Eraser. "Bring me my mononiecent ray—it's a long thin tube, should be bright blue…hurry!..."  
The Eraser seemed a bit confused at this, but pulled out a small briefcase and unlatched it, pulling put a blue tube a moment later.  
Jeb grabbed the tube and flicked something at the back, suddenly making the tube turn black and start to hum.  
Jeb gave me a thrilled smile before holding the tube to the bottom of my face.  
Umm…no I will not make out with that thing! Gosh!  
"Incredible…" Jeb muttered in awe, surprising me.  
A loud anguished howl came from the other side of the room and I saw an Eraser kneeling on the ground in pain, clutching a wrist that was obviously broken. Two other Erasers fought to keep Fang within their grasp, but Fang's eyes never left mine.  
"Max! Whatever the hell Jeb is doing is making your lips glow blue!" Fang shouted from across the room. "Watch—" A hairy paw slapped Fang hard across the face, sending his head flying to one side.  
I gasped into Ari's hand as blood trickled down Fang's jaw and an Eraser closed his hand over Fang's mouth to shut him up. But even from here I could see that Fang's eyes were blazing with anger…  
"Ari, open her mouth" Jeb said calmly.  
"Hell no!" I spat at him, only to realise that I could talk again. Ari forcefully grabbed a handful of my hair and then grabbed my chin with his other hand. "Hey! Watch it you—"  
I was cut off by Jeb sticking the tube into my mouth, practically making me gag as I accidentally bit down on it. Jeb shook his head and muttered another 'incredible' before he pulled the tube out of my mouth and I stuck my tongue out at him bitterly.  
Ari growled from behind me.  
"Don't make me pull that tongue of yours out of your mouth…" he threatened, which came out as more of a growl that I couldn't understand.  
I rolled my eyes at this, just to make Ari angry.  
"We'll have to wait..." Jeb said, trailing off. "We're leaving…" Jeb said, and I turned to him in surprise.  
Were they just going to leave now? What?! No fighting Erasers? And no kicking Ari's ugly, Eraser butt? (Eww…bad mental image…) And no watching Fang smash Jeb's head into a wall?...  
What happened to all the fun in being ambushed by Erasers!?  
"What?!" Ari snarled out in disbelief.  
Jeb sighed. "She's been contaminated. I can't inject her with the antidote while the bloodlust hormone is actively in her bloodstream" Jeb said slowly, as if talking to a child.  
Then again, Ari technically was a child, so maybe he really did need Jeb to talk slowly, so that Ari could understand all those big words …like this big word for instance…  
"Freak…" I muttered at Ari under my breath, causing him to snarl angrily.  
"Ari, don't hurt her!" Jeb ordered. Jeb turned to me almost apologetically and gave me a pitying smile.  
"I'm so sorry you had to through this, Max…but I'm only trying to help you. I promise that next time I'll inject you before you can see the needle…I hope you can forgive me..." I almost burst out laughing. Jeb had just barged in, had Fang and I pinned by Erasers, almost put a sharp, pointy, scary-looking needle through my skin, and now wanted me to forgive him.  
Hmm… let me think about that offer…  
Y-no!  
"Come on, move out…" Jeb ordered the Erasers.  
Almost in disbelief, (and I could see why), the Erasers reluctantly left the room and disappeared. Fang leapt up and moved to my side as soon as Jeb began to walk out the door. Fang put a protective, comforting arm around me and within a minute, there was no sign that the Erasers had been there at all.  
You know, except for the broken windows, blood on the carpet, and giant, dirty footprints the size of cats that were all across the floor…but no biggie…  
"Max?" Fang low, cautious voice made me jump in surprise when I saw how close he was to me.  
He didn't say anything else, just wrapped his arms around me and held me there for a minute. I sat in Fang's arms, just taking in his warmth and his scent until my heart had faded back to it's normal, steady beat.  
"Are you alright?" Fang whispered in my ear. I nodded and Fang's grip around me tightened defensively. "I swear to heaven and hell that if I ever get my hands on that—"  
"It's okay..." I said quietly, trying to calm Fang down before he punched out a wall or something. I felt a shift below me, and looked over me shoulder curiously, only to have Fang pick me up.  
Surprised, I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling a blush creep onto my cheeks at how awkward this was, and Fang dropped me down onto the bed gently. I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off when Fang threw a light sheet over me and leaned in to me.  
"Sleep" he ordered gently. "You need it more than I do…"  
"What…what was Jeb doing with that light?" I asked him. "Why did he stop?"  
These questions were driving me crazy, and I secretly knew that Fang didn't now any more than I did. But still, asking him helped me feel less stupid…  
You became very lucky, Max…too lucky for it to happen twice…count your blessings and be prepared next time… my Voice told me.  
What do you mean? I instantly asked it.  
That light was a mononiecent light…used to locate germination within or on another object…  
In English! I insisted impatiently. What does that mean?! Why did Jeb stop? What did he do to me with that light?  
Nothing, Max…all that light did was show Jeb that you and Fang had been kissing before he arrived…and that saved you from being injected…  
I did a double take in surprise. Fang and I kissing was the reason Jeb stopped?!  
Yes…that so-called "antidote" that Jeb brought you probably can't be injected into you while the bloodlust hormone is still actively in your bloodstream…when you and Fang kissed, both of you went into bloodlust and activated the hormone…when Jeb arrived, he obviously overlooked that you still had the bloodlust in your blood, and therefore he can't inject you…understand, Max? The only reason Jeb walked out—and oddly so—is because you and Fang kissed...you won't be as lucky next time…you need to stay alert and watch your back, Max!...This is a warning, and remember... I'm trying to help you…  
"Thanks…" I muttered quietly, (for the first time I could ever remember) and thanked the Voice inside my head for being such a know-it-all. Who knew that would come in handy one day?  
"Max? What's wrong" Fang asked, his voice turning tense with preparation to fight again or run—I could tell. I shook my head at him and shrugged.  
"Nothing, just my Voice lecturing me again " I told him somewhat-truthfully. Fang shot me a disbelievingly look, making me wince on the inside.  
Fang knew I was lying.  
Fang always knew when I was lying.  
"I'll tell you the rest tomorrow..." I promised him distractedly, wanting nothing more than to sleep right now. Fang seemed disappointed and a little frustrated at this but nodded at me, motioning with his head for me to lie down and go to sleep.  
I muttered quick 'thanks' and told him to wake me up when it was time for my watch—something I hadn't done in a while thanks to all these hotels we seemed to be staying at.  
Fang nodded wordlessly at me, and unable to argue, I flopped down onto the bed and let my head sink between the pillows.  
Ahh…the luxuries of life.  
I turned onto my side and saw Fang flick of the light, the room now bathed in a small amount of moonlight. I yawned despite not wanting to, and felt Fang touch my shoulder reassuringly, as if silently promising he'd make sure I slept safe.  
And I knew that Fang would, so I let myself sink into the soft bed and I gratefully closed my eyes, darkness overtaking me within minutes...

* * *

Talk. About. A. Close. Call. 

...Umm...err...REVIEW!!!!


	16. Life Sucks For Me When Fang Is Shirtless

Hey y'all! I'm back with a new chapter!

I hope you guys like it, and thanks again for all your comments.

I apologize about posting some paragraphs twice. See orginally, what you're reading used to be two chapters (but because they were short) I combined them into one. That's why you'll sometimes get paragraphs that repeat.

Oops. LOL

Anyways, I hope you guys like it!!!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 16 

I woke to the sound of a tiny voice yelling at me.  
Groggily, I opened my eyes a little, the sunlight streaming into them from the windows and making me groan. I closed my eyes again and rolled over, snuggling back into the pillows, throwing my arms over the blankets, and let the sun warm my back. I let out a hum of content and felt something warm and textured touch my hand briefly.  
I made a tiny groan again, but curious, I opened my eyes weakly to see what I'd accidentally touched.  
I smile softly to myself when I saw that it was Fang's hand, his fingers twitching lightly as he slept.  
The rest of Fang I noticed was tucked over the side of the bed. He was kneeling on the carpet, his arms and upper half laying across the bed, with his head (truthfully, from where I was, all I could see was a mass of messy, thick black hair) laying in between his arms.  
He looked so… I don't know. So…relaxed when he was asleep.  
That's the word! I thought with realisation. He doesn't look peaceful or happy, (because the almightily Fang can't look happy—it'd ruin his reputation) but he looks relaxed.  
There was no tension in his shoulders or his jaw, or anywhere else where Fang usually held his emotions or held tension. He was just sprawled out easily on the bed, with a relaxed expression on his pale (not to mention temping, smooth-looking, flawless, milky, gorgeous, handsome) face.  
He must've fallen asleep last night on watch… I thought.  
Oh no! I didn't take my watch last night! I realised guiltily. No wonder Fang fell asleep! Even he can't stay awake all night! Shoot!  
"Ma-ax!" the little, muffled voice cried out again. My eyes shot fully open this time and I threw back the covers.  
That was Angel's voice.  
I threw back the covers and jumped out of bed, accidentally waking Fang in the process, who stood up fast as anything as I leapt past him. I quickly ran to the door, and to my embarrassment, I missed the door handle and smacked my face into the wall. I heard Fang chuckle behind me and I shot him a don't-even-start-look before opening the door. Angel and the rest of the Flock were waiting there patiently, and greeted me cheerfully as Angel held out two bags to show me.  
"Angel, where did those come from?" I asked her.  
"We went shopping!" Angel said with a smile. "We all wanna go to the beach, so we want and bought bathing suits and—"  
"Wait! You bought swimsuits?" I repeated in disbelief. "How?"  
At this, I went a little ways back into the room and grabbed my jeans off of the chair they had been sitting on. I reached into my jean pocket and found the credit card sitting there as always.  
"The credit card is right here!" I said pulling it out. "If none of you took it then…" I trailed off as I immediately realised what had happened.  
"Angel…did you ask the owner to give those to you for free?' I asked, dreading the answer. Angel looked guilty at her feet but mumbled out a small 'maybe.'  
"Ang—"  
"Angel" Fang interrupted me. "You know that doing that is wrong. It's manipulation…" he told her. Angel looked down at her feet again and nodded solemnly. Any anger or frusatration I had disappeared as soon as Angel looked to floor. My heart almost cracked at how my little girl looked so ashamed of herself. I wanted to hug her, hold her, tell her that it was okay—  
But it's not okay, Max… my Voice whispered in my ear. Children need to learn that they can't always have what they want… otherwise, they never stop being children…  
But Angel is my—  
You can't be her mother forever, Maximum… My Voice told me. One day Angel will grow up and become a mother herself…as will you…  
"Do you understand, Angel?' Fang asked, his firm voice bringing me out of my thoughts.  
"Yes" Angel said quietly, her voice breaking with guilt. There was an awkward moment of deep silence before Fang knelt down and pulled Angel into his arms reassuringly. I saw Angel's lower lip tremble but she curled into Fang and muttered a quiet 'sorry'.  
"How…" I began to say, but stopped to clear my head. "How did you guys go into town and buy bathing suits and get back here before Fang or I noticed?' I asked them curiously. Their faces all tensed up with guilt and my heart sank.  
Uh-oh…  
"We didn't really go …into town..." Iggy said, trying to grin. "We just ran into this guy and Angel asked him if he would go into town and buy us bathing suits…and then he brought them here to us...Hehehe….apparently Angel can control people at long distances too…" Iggy said, looking at the floor awkwardly.  
I just stood there I shock at this, but didn't say anything.  
Angel was getting stronger and stronger everyday…which is good since she's on our side!…but it's also getting to be a bit unnerving…  
"Good for you, Angel" Fang told her calmly, and Angel seemed to immediately brighten up—smiling and giggling with pride.  
"So can we please go to the beach, Max?" Gazzy suddenly piped up, his blue eyes wide in that innocent-look he'd obviously been learning off of Angel. They know I can't resist it when they do Bambi eyes...but still, we had to--  
Suddenly, a thought struck me that almost stunned me for a second. I quickly looked to Gazzy, hoping that Fang couldn't see the smile that was creeping onto my face.  
"Actually...that sounds like a great idea ,Gazzy. Let's all go to the beach. We could use a break…"  
Cheers went up from everyone and I smiled at how happy they all were. Two pieces of clothing were suddenly put into my by hands by Nudge, and Gazzy threw something in Fang's direction.  
"Oh my gosh! Thank you so much, Max!" Nudge said grinning like it was Christmas. "This is so cool! So we'll all get changed, throw on our clothes, and then go to the beach! Oh my gosh! I can't wait!" she squealed.  
I tried to smile at her and Nudge ran off, the others following her lead until Fang and I were left standing in front of an empty doorway.  
I shut the door behind me and saw Fang disappear into the bathroom, shooting me a why-did-you-agree-to-let-them-go-swimming-look before he disappeared.  
You'll see soon enough, Fang… I thought to myself.  
But what I had said was true—we all needed a break (especially me!). We may be mutant kids that are on the run and are always trying to not be killed (everyday of our lives! I might add), but even we deserved a few days to just fool around, go to the beach, eat ice cream, and just…well, be kids.  
A minute later, Fang walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed in his usual black attire. I took the bathroom next and quickly looked at the swimsuit I'd been thrown by Nudge. It wasn't too bad…I guess…  
I quickly changed into the bathing suit and my clothes before walking out. The rest of the Flock were all standing ready for me at the door, and one by one we all took off until we were all airborne and flying away.  
You'll definetly see, Fang…very soon...

* * *

"So guys…" I began casually, feeling the warm wind flow over my wings and the warm sun on my back. It was really nice out today, perfect weather for being outside...and swimming (quell-coinky-dink!)  
"Where exactly do you guys want to go swimming?" I asked them. They all seemed surprised at this, and a thoughtful silence took over the flock. My heart dropped in disappointment. "Do you guys know any beaches in Texas?" I asked them. "Or where you'd like to go—"  
"We could go to Florida" Nudge suggested. "I mean, the last time we went it was so much fun and the water was so pretty and so nice. We all had such I great time, I mean, didn't we guys? Except for when you…"  
Nudge suddenly threw a hand over her mouth in horror, just realising what she had said, and a tense silence surrounded everyone.Except for when I tried to take the chip out of my arm... I thought guiltily, finishing Nudge's sentence in my head.  
I shook my head as a wave of shame rolled through me. I almost shivered and felt this huge need to just hug myself as I thought about that time.  
How stupid could I have been? I mean...I had…I…I don't know…  
"Max?" Iggy said, gently snapping me out of my self-pity party. "Are wee going to Florida or staying here?" Iggy asked. I thought about for a moment, finally remembering the name of a great beach in Texas. Thank you, Internet…  
"There's a beach just a short flight from here" I told them, glancing back over my shoulder to look at them all. "We'll go there. I can't remember the name though…something with a 'C'…anyways, does that sound good guys?"  
"Perfect!"  
"Yup!"  
"Awesome!"  
'Thank you!"  
"Cool…"  
I lead the Flock on a carefree, easy flight to the beach, Iggy and Gazzy would swoop and make bird imitations every few minutes or so, but other than that, the flight was spent in a quiet, peaceful silence.  
However, as soon as I spotted the beach and dove down to it, si8lence was the last thing I heard for a while. Not that I was complaining though—I like it when my guys are energetic and loud. It just makes them… them.  
As soon as I touched down in the sand, the little guys zoomed past me, threw off their clothes, and flew into the water. Literally…  
I saw Gazzy do a cannonball dive with Iggy right behind him, and Angel and Nudge flipped and dove into the water, laughing with excitement. I landed on the sand and called out to Angel and Nudge to be careful when flipping and doing tricks, before walking over to a nearby tree and plopping down under it.  
Ahh…good stuff… I joked to myself.  
Fang walked over and dropped down his bag in the sand, before plopping down next to me ands turning to look at the younger guys and Iggy in the water.  
"Hey, Max. How are you feeling? Any better?" Fang asks.  
"Better?" I repeat in confusion. "Better from what?"  
'Nudge's little comment about Florida" Fang replies, making me sigh at how direct he was.  
"Yeah…" I mutter to him. Fang looks at me deeply, making me fidget at how intensely he's staring at me again.  
I smirk at him, trying to ease the effect of his gaze on me, and raise an eyebrow at him carelessly.  
"Apart from the fact that I'm hungry, thirty, feeling guilty that you took watch all night, a little stressed, I have a voice in my head, I was just attacked by Erasers last night, I almost had a needle poked into me, and that I walked into a wall this morning? Yeah….I'm fine. How about you?"  
Fang just smirked at me and shook his head.  
"Hey, you gonna come swimming?" I asked him, rising to my feet and walking towards the edge of the water.  
"Nope, I'll just watch..." Fang said in an I–honestly-couldn't-care-less-about-going-swimming-tone. I shrugged at him in defeat.  
"Suit yourself" I told him  
I took a deep breath and silently asked myself why I had thought this would be a good idea in the first place. When Angel mentioned going to the beach-- back at our hotel room -- I had immediately thought that I could win the Bloodlust bet.  
Swimming equals swimsuits.  
Swimsuits equels me in a swimsuit, Fang seeing me in a swimsuit, and (hopefully) Fang going into bloodlust and — Bada boom! Bada Bing! — I win the Bloodlust bet.  
But in order to do that, I was going to have to flaunt myself in a swimsuit…which was not going to be a pretty sight…  
Lord help me.  
I felt like smacking myself over the head, but told myself that I was the one who had agreed to do this.I  
t's now or never… I thought to myself.  
I let out a distracted sigh before pulling off my shirt and my jeans to reveal my swimsuit underneath.  
It was a pretty normal-looking swimsuit…it wasn't like it was ugly …and it wasn't a string bikini or anything…so how come I felt really exposed?  
The swimsuit was a tankini (you know those weird swimsuits that aren't exactly in one piece but don't really count as two pieces either? Yeah, one of those...)  
It was dark green in colour with some kind of weird white flowers all over it. The top was a weird halter-neck 'V' (-ish, thing) and reached halfway up my ribs, and the bottoms were boy-cut.  
To any normal girl, this swimsuit is more than decent…to me, I felt like I needed to wrap myself in a towel and never come out again.  
You're perfectly fine Maximum!… my Voice scolded angrily. But you have other things to worry about besides the way you look in a swimsuit! The world is counting on you to save it! It's your destiny and you're responsible—  
Don't talk to me… I mentally said in a sour voice. I don't want to hear it right now…  
Maximum!…  
I took a deep breath and turned around, hardly believing what I was about to do.  
"Fang?" I called out, hoping my voice wasn't shaking.  
Fang lazily opened one eye from where he was resting on the sand and looked over at me curiously.  
"You sure you don't want to come swimming?" I asked, pretending to not care.  
Fang was quiet for a moment before his shook his head. "Nope….I told you, I'm fine…"  
"Okay then!" I said with a wink at him and shrugged, mentally trying to hit myself for being so…Barbie-ish. (And yes, I know that it's not really a word…)  
I turned my back to Fang and pulled my hair out of its ponytail, flicking my hair behind me and trying to shake it out like those weird girls on TV do.  
Unfortunately, the girls on TV never had their hair whip to one side and smack them in the face.  
TV liars….  
All of my hair was now sitting over one shoulder in a blonde, matted knot and I sighed to myself in embarrassment and defeat.  
Oh my gods...this is so ridiculous! Fang probably thinks I'm an idiot! I must look so—No! Come on, Max! You can do this! If Lissa can make Fang drool dressed in normal clothes, you can definitely make him drool in a swimsuit!…  
That's very encouraging… My Voice teased.  
I think I just insulted myself…  
You did, Maximum…  
…Gre-eat…  
"Max! Oh my gosh!" Nudge suddenly yelled as her head popped out of the water. "I love that swimsuit!!! It's adorable!!! Oh my gosh! Now I wish I had bought that one instead of this one! I mean this swimsuit I'm wearing is really cute!, but yours is—"  
"Thanks, Nudge" I told her, wincing as she ignored me and kept rambling.  
"But I mean I totally love how that tankini shape—at least I thinks it's called a tankini shape—looks so good on you, but you probably would have looked so pretty in a bikini!! But who thought of the word bikini anyways? I mean just think about it! Bi-ki-ni! I mean, that kinda sounds like the name of a fruit or something…"  
"Thanks Nudge!" I said again, louder this time so that she would get the hint.  
"Oh!" Nudge said and gave me a happy smile. "Your welcome!"  
Nudge swam off to go hang out with Gazzy and Angel and I took a deep breath before walking into the water. I was really surprised when I found out that it was almost perfect.  
It wasn't freezing cold, it was just…cool.  
Cool enough to make you forget about the heat, but not cool enough to give you goosebumps or make you suck in a breath because it's cold. I waded in further before I took a breath and dove under the waves feeling the water gliding all around me as I sliced through the water. Now that's a cool feeling…  
I surfaced and couldn't help but grin. Gazzy, Angel and Nudge were al bobbing around in the water in front of me, looking so happy and so innocent.  
I quickly unfurled my wings to their full length, spraying flecks of water at them all as I did so.  
They pretended to scream and then burst out laughing, the three of them copying my idea and began splashing each other with their wings.  
Iggy suddenly popped out of the water, his blonde hair matted to his head, and grabbed Gazzy from behind before swinging him around. The two boys laughed together like a pair of fools, but they were my fools I reminded myself, and felt tears start to prick my eyes at how happy they were.  
Stupid teenage emotions…  
"Max!" Iggy called out to me. "You wanna play tag with us?"  
"Sure!" I called back jokingly. "Just don't complain when I win!"  
Iggy laughed and grinned in that way he always did…right before he blew something up…  
"Gazzy's it" Iggy muttered and then he swam towards Angel. I quickly looked out across the water for Gazzy but couldn't see him anywhere in sight. Suddenly realising that Iggy had set me up, I turned to swim away, and Gazzy popped up from nowhere and tapped me on the arm.  
"Ha! Tag! You're it!" he said, smiling proudly  
I grinned and hit him lightly in the shoulder as payback. "Now you're it again" I told him.  
"You're not allowed touchbacks…" Gazzy said sulkily, mainly because I had re-touched him. (Hehehe…)  
I sighed to myself but promised 'no touchbacks' and quietly counted to 10. I watching Gazzy swim away happily as I counted, and at the same time, I scouted the water for any sign of my victims--I mean, the rest of my Flock…  
Nudge's tiny brown head suddenly came out of the water, sitting only a few feet away from me.  
I quickly pushed of from the bottom of the water and swam towards her, marking her s my vict—I mean, the first Flock member that I saw. She squealed when she saw me swimming towards her, and quickly dove back under the water, just seconds before I reached her.  
But before I could turn to look for her, a strong arm snaked itself around my waist and pulled me against a warm, firm chest.  
Fang.  
Uh-oh...bad, Max! Bad…  
Fang pulled me against him, and that was when I realised just how stupid I had been to agree for everyone to go swimming.  
The way I saw it, swimming meant Fang seeing me in a bathing suit, Fang then (hopefully) finding me attractive, Fang going into bloodlust first—I win, whoop, whoop! End of story.  
However, I had been really (and I mean really!) slow not to realise that swimming also meant Fang could be swimming (however unlikely that might be)…  
…and him swimming didn't involve him wearing a shirt…  
…and it involved Fang being wet…all-over…  
…and shirtless…  
…and now Fang's holding me against his wet, shirtless chest.  
…and I'm about to go insane.  
Life sucks for me sometimes.

* * *

_--sigh--_

This is the second chapter in a row where I've had Fang without a shirt on.

...does that make me a horrible person? LOL


	17. Fang Has a New Power ? !

YAY!!! New chapter! LOL.

Wow, this story is becoming popular fast. Thanks for all the reviews guys!

And here you go! --since I got so many nice comments on the last chapter...and comments on Fang being shirtless (LOL!) -- the next chapter is here!

Enjoy everybody!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 17

Before I could blink, Fang's lips were by my ear and he tightened his grip around my waist, pulling me more firmly against his chest.  
"You're...cheating…" Fang muttered through labored breaths.  
Why's he breathing heavy?...It must be from swimming all the way out here to meet us all… I thought dazedly.  
"Cheating on what?" I asked in confusion, my brain slowly going foggy from being in Fang's arms (the guy has a weird way of doing that...)  
"Bloodlust…bet…" Fang muttered almost irritably. "You're…ch—"  
Fang suddenly cut himself off and I felt his body tense behind me as he took a deep breath. It was like someone had dumped water over my head (Who knows? Maybe someone actually did… I was too busy in la-la-land to notice anyway)  
Fang's not breathing that heavily because he swam too quickly… I realised. He's breathing heavily from self-control! My plan actually worked!...well, kind-of. Fang's bloodlust is trying to come out! Woot!  
"That's…not fair…" Fang muttered into my ear. "We never…said anything about seducing…the other person...into bloodlust!..." he muttered bitterly.  
"Who said I was trying to seduce you?" I shot back at him.  
Fang thought I was trying to seduce him? Puh-lease…  
…okay maybe I had been trying just a little…but had Fang just admitted that I was seductive? What the hell is the world coming to!? I'm anything but seductive!!! I've never worn a skirt in my life! (Except for that stupid school uniform, but that does not count!)  
"Like you flipping your hair…back and winking at me…. isn't cheating…"Fang growled irritably than released me from his grip, and I heard him pulling back in the water.  
I turned to see him dive under the water and swim away before my mind blanked out.  
I just stood in the water, on my toes, feeling the tide sway me back and forth. My head was spinning but I didn't really notice as the Voice popped into my head.  
Maximum! My Voice hissed, making me wince as the sound echoed in my skull. What were you doing!? Fang could've gone into Bloodlust at any—  
Wait… he didn't go into Bloodlust yet? I thought distractedly. Oh man! I almost had him! Dang it!  
MAX!!! If Fang had gone into Bloodlust you could've been killed! My Voice hissed angrily. This is not a game! He could have attacked you or a member of your flock and could've killed you! He could have drowned you! Strangled you! Or worse!  
Fang would never do that! I protested. Why do I feel a sense of deja-vu? I told you, Fang would never hurt me—  
Fang is not himself now, Max! And having you flirting with him is not helping! Do you like putting yourself in danger or does danger just follow you everywhere, Max?   
The second one… I mentally muttered, thinking of all the times I had been the one to have Erasers or whitecoats stalk me.  
You could seriously hurt Fang and yourself if you continue this, Max…  
That shut me up.  
I knew that Fang and I were both in bloodlust and by having a bet to try and see who would go into a psychotic-uncontrollable-bloodlust-drive first isn't the smartest idea (but then again, define smart to a kid who's never been to school for longer than three weeks)  
Maximum… my Voice uttered in warning, like a parent scolding a child.  
Fine…I promise I won't do anything else to try and make Fang go into bloodlust… I muttered irritably to my Voice before diving under the water. It was so nice to feel the water gliding past me and to just swim for fun.  
You know, having a voice in your head and a conscious can really take all the fun out of life sometimes…  
Very humorous, Max…but life isn't going to be so fun for you or your Flock now that two of you are in Bloodlust and Fang has now discovered one of his skills...  
Haha, I'm so—  
I suddenly swallowed a mouthful of salt water and shot up, coughing and spluttering as I replayed what my Voice had just said.  
Wait!!! **Fang has a new skill!?** I mentally yelled. What !?!? When did that happen!? Has Fang always had powers!? How come he never told us? What kind of skill is it? When did he discover it? Does he have more? Am I asking too many questions?  
Yes, Max…  
All of these thoughts were racing through my head as I spun around to try and find Fang again. How come I'd never noticed that Fang had a new power? What kind of power was it?  
"Max!" I heard Gazzy call out. "Umm...are you still playing? Cause you're still 'it' you know!"  
I mentally hit myself and turned to shoot a quick, sheepish smile to Gazzy. "Sorry, but I've got to do something. I promise I'll play afterwards if you guys are still in the water!"  
"..promise?"  
"I swear, and if I break my promise you can beat up Iggy—"  
"Hey!"  
"Okay!"  
Grinning at that, I dove under the water and swam towards the shore, seeing Fang leaning against a tree, watching us all protectively. Fang isn't much of a team-player, but he's usually sitting out to watch over us and give us a head's up on danger and stuff. He's good that way…  
I quickly ran out of the water and casually walked over to Fang. As soon ass I approached him though, he shot me a don't-even-think-anbout-trying-to-trick-me-again-or-you-ll-seriously-regret-it look. I sighed in defeat and stood a few feet away from him. Seeing him without a shirt could out me into bloodlust, so staying back was safer…  
"Fang! You uhh…do you have a new power?" I asked him, hoping I wasn't sounding too anxious. Fang lazily looked over at me ands shrugged. "Yeah…"  
Talk about enthusiasm.  
"You never told me you have a new power!" I said in surprise. "When did you find out?"  
"About a minute ago" he said calmly, but I could see the excitement and mischief in his eyes.  
"How?'  
"You remember when you made a fool out of yourself and were flipping your hair back?' he said casually.  
I felt my entire face heat up with mortification and I wanted to smack him. Hard.  
"Yeah" I muttered out through clenched teeth.  
"Then..." he told me.  
Must…resist ...urge…to…strangle…  
"How did you find out about your power?" I asked him, trying not to yell at how calm he seemed to be.  
"When I saw you do that, I found out I had it…" Fang said, smirking when he saw how my fists clenched at my sides.  
"Fang! I'm serious! Tell me!" I asked him  
"Tell you what?" he asked innocently, his dark eyes alight with amusement.  
"Tell me about your new power!"  
"I just did..."  
"What kind of power is it?"  
"What does that mean?..."  
"You really like making me frustrated don't you!?" I asked him, torn between grinning and frowning at how smug and how irritating this was. Fang smirked at me and his eyes were bright with with-held laughter.  
"You're just too much fun to tease…" he told me shaking his head, and then closing his eyes to relax. He is so annoying! And so utterly…good-looking when he's lying there like that--  
No! Max, come on! I mentally hit myself as I felt a blush crawling onto my cheeks. Bloodlust or not, Fang without a shirt is way too distracting for me to focus on anything but him.  
Come on! Snap out of it! You're supposed to be mad at him!  
"Max!" I heard Nudge call out happily. "Come look! Angel's making the fish dance for us! It's so cool! But they look kinda slimy and stuff, but still, it's so cute to see all these silver fish dancing!"  
I winced inwardly and turned to give a small smile to Nudge.  
"That's...great!..." I said sheepishly, not knowing how to respond. Angel seems to be doing more and more of these things every day, and it's getting a little unnerving….  
I saw Fang smirking at me from the corner of my eye, and he stood up but still kept his distance from me.  
"I promise I'll tell you later" he told me coolly. I looked at him in surprise, but kept my gaze on him as I started towards Nudge.  
"You promise, Fang?" I yelled back at him. Fang gave me a tiny smirk.  
"I swear…and if I break my promise you can beat up Iggy" Fang calmly yelled out to me, mimicking my words from earlier.  
"What is with you guys and having me beat up!?' Iggy yelled from the water in mock anger. I burst out grinning.  
"Do you really want me to answer that, Ig?" I teased. He grinned back and clutched his heart before falling backwards into the water like he had been shot.  
"Drama queen..." Fang muttered under his breath, but his eyes showed that the insult was friendly.  
Iggy re-emerged from the water a second later, grinning happily. "First off, the nickname is Pyro or Ig…not drama anything! Second..."  
Iggy grinned mischievously at this and started to swim backwards.  
"...this insult is coming from the Max's wittle boyfwiend?"  
I saw Fang's eyes flash angrily and before I could yell at Iggy, Fang was already off the sand and into the water like an arrow. I heard Iggy yelp and then swear before he swam furiously away, laughing the entire time as Fang's form got closer and closer to him every second under the water.  
I stared at the two of them and burst out laughing as Fang shot up out of the water, wings fully spread looking like the angel of doom for Iggy.  
They are such…guys, sometimes… I thought to myself humorously.  
Iggy heard Fang behind him and pretended to scream, just as a second after Fang tackled him under the water. The little guys laughed and swam away from them, but stayed close enough to watch the two fighting in the water.  
I shook my head at them but continued laughing as Fang came up from the water with Iggy in a headlock.  
"Firstly…I can call you whatever I want, Sparky" Fang said as Iggy continued to grin and struggle in his hold "Secondly, say that again and I'll kick your skinny, blonde butt… and tell Max where you keep hiding your explosive supplies"  
"Hey!" Iggy shouted in protest. "That's not fair! That was a trusted secret between you and me!... and Gazzy too…" Iggy said through grin.  
Fang raised an eyebrow at this and tightened his hold, but his eyes were bright with humour. "Then watch what you say…or else I'll willingly kick your—"  
"Language!" Iggy shouted. Fang rolled his eyes dunked Iggy's head under the water. He then pulled him up and spun him around so the two were face-to-face and Fang smirked at him.  
"Then listen up…" Fang said lowly.  
My eyes widened a little and I strained my hearing to catch what Fang was saying, but I couldn't hear anything through the sound of the waves. I could see that he was whispering something quickly into Iggy's ear, and my radar went on high alert.  
Fang and Iggy together, let alone with a plan, never ends up well…  
Iggy's eyes widened at something Fang said before a mischievous grin spread over his face and he nodded. Fang pulled away and released Iggy from his hold, the two smirking at each other before Fang leapt into the air and shook off the water from his wings. Iggy turned back to the younger kids like nothing had happened, but Nudge kept her gaze on me. Her head was cocked questioningly to the side and her mouth was open in silent shock.  
Uh-oh…Nudge being silent is scary…what have I done now? Do I have something on my face? Are my wings turning green? What!?...  
"Max..." Nudge said curiously, her voice sounding like she was in awe. "Is Fang your boyfriend!?"  
My entire face turned red and I wanted nothing more than to smack my head against a rock. A nice, hard rock.  
….Someone please kill me now!...  
I looked away from Nudge in shock and horror not knowing what to say or to do.  
This is so awkward…  
Suddenly Fang yelled out from above us and my heart dropped like a dead bird (irony intended.)  
"Max! We've got Erasers coming fast! And they're everywhere!" Fang yelled.  
Okay, now someone seriously needs to kill me…before the Erasers do… I thought dryly. "Fang! That is not funny!" I yelled up at him. "Stop joking around about Erasers attacking us! It wasn't funny when Gazzy did it and you're no—"  
Of course, that was when a huge, flying Eraser clobbered Fang in mid-air and three more suddenly swooped down towards Ig and Gazzy.  
...oh.

* * *

Weeee!!!!

Yet another chapter that has Fang without a shirt in it! LOL.

Since the female readers seem to like it so much...

For the guy readers...errr...I'm sorry about all the shirtless-Fang stuff... and I hope picturing Max in a swimsuit could possibly make-up for that...yeah... LMAO.

Anyways, more soon!


	18. Fang's Power Discovered

Hey guys!!!

WEEEEE!!!! New chapter is up!!!! I really hope you like it!

And a HUGE thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers!!!!

That's **Snap Crackle Pop, SlytherinProngs, Paradox-Barbarian-Princess, Sarith, HermioneHair, EdwardIsTheHottestVampire, Amber, october tuscany, Mrs. Grayson, Jackie, astertisks,** **Alledaria, Ringwarriorkayla, MalfoyDebauchery,** **ffgirlmoonie,** **marie47,** **Anony, LuvEdwardC**, **socksE-B4ev,** **Myrah, kitti-of-death,** **hyper.much, WiiNGeDBaBii30, DarknessAngel101,** **allieb13**, **tenshi,** **Golden Nugget, Yascarocks**, **BlueSea14, Aqua**, **GreenEyed13**, **Lady Serenity Taisho,** **life sucks then you die 32**, **Supergirrl,** **XIrishXDreamerX, delia, Elizabeth** and** Odet Mae.**

Love to you all!!! LOL And I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 18

I swore loudly and took off into the air. Fang punched the Eraser hard in the jaw and I saw Iggy and Gazzy kicking an Eraser in the gut. Fang swooped behind him and clapped his hand's over the Eraser's ear, making him howl in pain as his eardrums burst.  
"Everybody!" I yelled "Get into the air but don't take off! Get back to the shore, now!"  
No-one argued with me as five blurred shapes flew by me and little droplets of water sprayed everywhere as their wings unfurled. I followed directly behind them, looking over my shoulder for any signs of flying Erasers behind us. Nudge reached the shore first, and she immediately grabbed all of our bags.  
That's my girl… I thought proudly.  
I could hear Ari barking out orders behind me and Erasers snarling angrily when they saw we were trying to escape. Again.  
These guys seriously need some new hobbies… I thought to myself.  
A group of Erasers suddenly came out of nowhere, but only seconds later they all turned around and ran headfirst into trees in the forest. And then again…and again…and again…and again…  
I almost grinned to myself.

"Hehe…good job, sweetie. Just do that until …umm, they're unconscious or something…" I murmured to Angel, who was giggling a few feet away from me.  
"Okay!" she replied cheerfully, considering she was surrounded by Erasers.  
I heard a growl behind me and turned just in time to get an Eraser's paw in my face. I stumbled and threw a roundhouse kick at him hearing him give a satisfying yelp. He glared hatefully at me and started attacking me with more punches and swipes with his claws.  
Che!...amateur…  
I waited until the perfect moment and when he came at me with another punch I jumped up using my wings. He missed me entirely and stumbled forward stupidly, just as I swung at him with a kick, making his neck crack over to one side as he howled in pain.  
After he went down, I did an immediate 360 over my Flock, and was pleased to see that all of them were holding up really well again the Erasers. Pride surged through me for a moment before I caught one Eraser who was standing out of the action.  
Ari.  
My instincts went on high alert as I stared at him while he watched us all fight…almost sulkily.  
Why the heck isn't he in here!? I wondered. Ari's always dying to beat us up and try and kill us…so what's going on?  
"Max!" Fang yelled out to me as he took another Eraser down. I swept my gaze over to him as he spoke.  
"Get the others out of here" he told me and I almost let an Eraser punch me I was so surprised.  
"What!? Why?" I asked him in confusion, kicking another Eraser's kneecaps.  
"I've got a plan and it'll only work if you all leave!" Fang shouted over to me. "Just trust me! There aren't many left and you should get the other guys to safety first!" he said, shooting down everything I had just been about to argue with him over.  
"But—"  
"No buts!" Fang shouted as he broke an Eraser's jaw. "You know I can take care of myself and I promise I can finish them all. Go!" he said.  
I hesitated as he finished. In a way it made sense, I mean I had no clue what Fang was planning, but he was strong and he knew when to retreat if something backfired. And although I didn't want to leave him to fight ten Erasers, he was willing to get hurt on our behalf, rather than have all 6 of us hurt.  
That stupid Mister-macho-idiot.  
I hesitated again. Fang didn't. "Go!" he yelled, waving his hand demandingly at me to the sky. This time (although I was probably going to regret it later) I listened to him.  
"Guys!" I yelled out loudly. "U and A! Now!"  
Obediently, four sets of wings unfurled and took of swiftly into the air. I looked briefly back at Fang before I took off too, and raised two fingers and my thumb in the air.  
That's Flock translation for 'hideout'.  
Fang nodded that he understood and I regretfully took off. I told the guys to fly west and head for the hideout, ignoring Gazzy wondering why we'd left Fang there. I was asking myself the same question. We all landed and Iggy made sure we were alone (the guy's got an amazing hearing ability, what can I say?) and everyone slumped patiently over by the tree to wait for Fang.  
This was our so-called "hideout", although it wasn't really much of a hideout. It was the base of a huge, old oak tree we'd discovered on our first day here—when the younger guys had been playing in the park and I had been bandaging Fang's hand.  
Suddenly something sunk in that made me do a double take.  
In my mind, I saw a picture of when Fang had waved his hand at me to go with the others and leave.  
Fang's hand! I realised in surprise.  
The second time Fang went into bloodlust, he fought Ari. And he had been holding Ari's neck with one hand and Ari had been clawing and scratching at Fang's hand to try and get free. Fang's hand had been bleeding like crazy, but he hardly seemed to notice the pain. It had been his right hand—I was positive, but just now when Fang raised his hand, there hadn't been a single scratch or scar on it. And after being attacked and clawed at by an Eraser, trust me, you would have scratches and/or scars for at least a week.  
That's what Fang's new power is! I thought to myself triumphantly as it clicked in. Fang can heal himself! That's his power!  
We waited patiently for a few minutes by the tree, talking quietly amongst ourselves and listening to the birds and wind. Finally, Iggy spoke up about what we were all thinking.  
"Max!" Iggy said out worriedly. "Where's Fang?"  
I did a quick 360 for him but saw nothing, the sounds of Erasers snarling long gone which meant that Fang had to be coming back now...okay now…okay, no-ow!...unless he's unconscious or something… where was he?!...  
A twig snapped from my left and immediately all 5 of us took up fighting stances as someone walked out from the nearby forest.  
Unfortunately… it wasn't Fang.  
My heart started racing and my eyes went wide in panic when I saw that it was an ordinary person. A teenage guy, of all things.  
He had short, spiky blonde hair and deep, dark eyes. He was pale with a few freckles and looked really cu—\  
Oh gods! Max, do not start this now! I told myself angrily. You need to find a way to get away from him without him seeing everyone's wings!  
He walked calmly towards us and turned to me, making me jump in surprise and nervousness. He didn't say anything and slowly it starred to sink in…I swore under my breath and looked at the guy in shock.  
He looked really familiar…and I knew him from somewhere!...  
"Who are you?" I demanded coolly, pushing my Flock protectively behind me. The guy raised an eyebrow at me in disbelief.  
"It's me" he said, his voice low and sharp. I could've sworn I heard my heart stop. He was definitely the last person I expected to see. Well, like this anyways…  
" …Fang!?"  
The blonde boy gave me an all too familiar smirk and raised a calm eyebrow at me. "Who else would it be?" he asked.  
Iggy nudged Gazzy to ask what was going on and Gazzy relayed the information to him. Angel giggled shyly and pointed at Fang.

"Your hair is blonde Fang! You look really different... teehee! Like a blonde version of Ken…"  
Angel broke off into girlish giggles and Nudge giggled too, the two girls glancing at Fang mischievously.  
Fang frowned deeply at this and closed his eyes momentarily. As he did so, I saw the blonde receded from his hair and the freckles disappear.  
Instantly, I saw that Fang's dark, deep brown eyes had stayed the same as always, but had looked so different with Fang being blonde and freckled (if that's a word…)  
"Sorry, I forgot about that" Fang said coolly and shrugged at me. My jaw almost hit the floor at how calm Fang seemed over all of this.  
I thought Fang's power was that he could heal himself!? Wha-at!? How does this make sense?  
"Fang! You just changed your appearance!" I told him in disbelief, and Fang looked over to me and smirked.  
"Really? I hadn't noticed…" he replied, his smirk widening when he saw how I frowned at him teasing me.  
Stupid git…  
"How did you do that?" I asked him. "And for how long have you been able to that?"  
"Since…about ten minutes ago" Fang said with a careless shrug.  
"That's awesome!" Iggy said with an excited smile. "Can you do it again just so I can feel the change?" he asked.  
"Sure" Fang replied, calm as ever.  
Iggy walked over and put his hand on the side of Fang's face, and fang smirked lightly before he gave himself freckles, then changed his hair colour from black to blue, then blonde, red, purple, brown and back to black.  
Iggy grinned as he finished and we all just looked at Fang in surprise.  
"That's so cool!" Iggy commented and the two boys slapped high-fives.  
"It's like the pores in your skin are reshaping themselves and then relaxing back to their regular shape---like you've got bendable elastics all throughout your face and probably your hair and your eyes too."  
"Do they make elastics that aren't bendable?' Gazzy suddenly piped up, and I grinned at Iggy as blushed awkwardly and rolled his eyes.  
"Well, no…but you guys understand what I'm saying right?"  
"Perfectly" I told him, fixing my gaze on Fang.  
So Fang can change his appearance now...well, that'll must be fun… I thought with a grin.  
"But Fang..." I began and trailed off as he looked at me. " I took a deep breath before continuing. "I thought you're power was that you could…heal…yourself..." I muttered, feeling dumber and dumber by the second.  
"Why?" Fang asked.  
"Well, because that huge gash you had on your hand a few days ago is gone…" I told him. Fang seemed surprised at this and turned to look at his hand, which was indeed healed.  
Iggy grinned and turned to me.  
"It's what I was saying…Fang's skin must've reshaped itself or something to help the wound heal and disappear" Iggy explained.  
"Okay..." I said in understanding, but trying not to picture Fang's skin 're-shaping' itself…like a big blob…fre-eaky ( however, notice that this is coming from a girl with wings)…  
"Can you turn into animals too?" Angel asked him curiously. Fang shrugged at her.  
"Can you turn into an Eraser or a whitecoat?" Angel asked. Again, Fang shrugged but I saw how his shoulders tensed at the thought of being an Eraser.  
"Can you change how old you look, or are you stuck at this age?" Angel asked. Fang shrugged again and raised an eyebrow at her endless questions.  
"Can you turn into a girl!?" Gazzy suddenly asked and I saw Fang do a double take in disbelief. I burst out snickering but quickly bit my lip out of respect when Fang turned to glare at me. But it was just too funny, And I burst out snickering again...  
Fang as a girl...ha! That would be a sight to see…  
"I don't have a clue, but I don't plan on it any time soon" Fang growled out, obviously offended by Gazzy's curiosity.  
"Wait!" Nudge said in realization. "Oh my gosh! Is that how you got away from the Erasers or something!? You beat them up and then, like changed how you look to fool them!...oh wait, but if you already beat them up then why—"  
"Kind-of" Fang said, interrupting Nudge's chatter. "I took out as many Erasers as I could then flew away from you guys to lead them in the wrong direction. I found this abandoned campsite and changed, then pretended to be a human when they arrived—"  
"Wait, but what about your wings?" I asked. "Can you change those too?"  
Fang shrugged at me. "I don't know. Didn't think about it really, I just tucked them in behind me and hoped they wouldn't see them."  
I nodded in understanding at him and Angel hugged his legs sweetly.  
"I like you just the way you are, Fang" she said with an angelic smile. "You're not going to change your appearance all the time are you?" she asked.  
I saw Fang's eyes soften at the sight of her, and he shook his head 'no', before ruffling her hair kindly.  
"Nope" he said and Angel smiled again and hugged him close.  
Fang seemed taken aback and awkwardly patted her back. I smiled to myself at this, seeing that Fang isn't a "huggy-type-of-guy" and the awkward expression on his usually stony face was just too amusing.  
"So are the Erasers still looking for us?' Iggy asked, breaking the silence and snapping us all back to attention. My eyes widened at this and I mentally hit myself.  
Oh shoot! Why didn't I think of that?!  
"Probably" Fang replied in a seripous tone as he turned to me. "We should move fast, I managed to throw them off course, but they're not that dumb…they'll smell us out sooner or later."  
"You're sure that all of the Erasers followed you in the wrong direction?' I asked him, unfurling my wings and everyone else followed suit.  
Fang nodded solemnly at me, but a cruel voice made us all freeze in place.  
"Not all of them" a cold-blooded voice hissed behind us.  
My heart skipped a beat and instinctively I shoved my Flock behind me and whipped around, only to come face to face with a very pleased, feral-looking Ari.  
A hard fist hit me square in the side of the head and before I could react I saw white stars flash in my head, and then everything went black …

* * *

Oh no...oops. Looks like the Flock is in trouble. 

Hehehe... Note to self: Try to save Max from evil Erasers.


	19. Two Bloodlust Kids, One Room, OH SNAP

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!**

LOL. I hope you guys got lots for Christmas and had a wonderful time.

And since it's Boxing Day (I was gonna post yesterday, but forgot), here's a new chapter!

I hope you all like it!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 19

Everything was cold and cramped.  
I shifted and groaned weakly, rolling over to my side to get more comfortable on the uncomfortable pile of dirt I was laying on.  
And this dirt was so cold too. Mother Nature must be giving us the cold-shoulder or something (pun-intended.)  
For once, I just wish that six genetically-hybrid, human-avian kids could just get a break. And you guys think that you're life sucks. Sheesh. What does that make mine?  
I rolled over again to get more comfortable and smacked my head against something hard and firm.  
Most likely a tree.  
Ow… I thought grumpily, wanting nothing more than to sleep again. Stupid tree…stupid cold tree…stupid metallic tree…Wait!-metallic tree!  
My eyes shot open in a frenzy as I looked at a piece of cold steel in front of me, leaping to my feet out of instinct.  
Er, my knees I guess, since as soon as I moved I smacked my head against another slate of steel above my head.  
Oh gods!…  
Panic took over me and I felt my heartbeat speed up, fear slowly creeping into my veins and I practically whimpered when I looked around.  
Four sets of steel walls, steel roof, steel floor, and a cage window on one of the walls. I almost vomited out of fear and desperation when I realised there was no way out.  
The School.  
I was caged back at the School, the one place worse than hell itself. I swore to myself that no matter what, after that tank incident, I would never, ever! Go back to the School or let my Flock go back there again…  
The Flock!!!  
I turned as best I could and crawled to the cage, looking out at lines of other of crates to see if I could find my Flock.  
"Guys!" I shouted hopefully and desperately at once. There wasn't a sound in the area and the fear grew in my chest.  
"Guys! Roll call!" I yelled out urgently.  
"Max?..."  
I almost started to cry in relief when I heard Gazzy's little voice.  
"Gazzy! You okay, bud?" I asked him. Gazzy blonde head peeked out across from my own and my heart swelled with pride when he nodded at me calmly.  
"Yeah, I'm okay…" he told me, his face impassive and his voice brave. A little trait he was staring to pick up from Iggy and Fang.  
Those brave men of ours. (Like Angel, Nudge and I can't defend ourselves? Che!)  
"Max!"  
I heard Nudge call my name and voice a dark hand waved from beside Gazzy's crate, out of my line of vision.  
"Nudge, you okay?"  
"Fine" she muttered to me, right as two blonde heads peek out on either side of me.  
"Max? That you?" Iggy asks groggily.  
"Yup…" I murmured, relieved to see that my Flock was okay. My head snapped up as a thought struck me.  
"Guys, where's Fang?" I asked them.  
There was a deafening silence all around . My heart clenched in fear as a I repeated the question quickly. "Guys! Where is Fang?!" I asked, wincing when my voice came out trembling with worry.  
Their gazes shifted between each other before Iggy sighed, running a hand through his hair and grimaced.  
"They took him somewhere, Max. I dunno where…but just after I woke up, I heard two whitecoats grab Fang. I heard them put something into him before he went out like a light. They carried him off…I haven't heard from him since…sorry…" Iggy mumbled.  
"It's not your fault, Ig" I told him calmly. "Just relax, we'll find him…"  
Of course, Iggy couldn't see that my frown deepened every time he told me something new and panic was beginning to make it hard for me to breathe. It was so small, like claustrophobic small in this stinking dog crate, and—  
No, calm yourself down, Max! I told myself angrily. Do not let these whitecoats get the best of you! You've been here before and escaped… just breathe and think of a way out…you can do this…just think…and ignore your stomach growling for food….like chocolate chip cookies, those ones that Ella's mom made…Mmm, they were so good.  
I mentally hit myself and smacked my head accidentally on the side of my crate.  
Great, now I'm hungry…  
_Why is it, Maximum, that when you're mind should be on important matters at hand, you always seem to distract yourself?_ My Voice whispered in my ear.  
Oh, hello again. Care to leave? I shot at it. You're always here when I don't need you…  
_I'm always there for you Max…_my Voice said. _Just call…_  
Right…well you know, I've tried that before and you ignored me…  
_Some things are better left to self-discovery Max…_ My Voice said calmly (in that mumbo-jumbo way it has.)  
Gee, that makes sense. I'm always here to help but I won't?... I definitely feel reassured now. Especially since, as always, I'm talking to a voice that's inside my head! That only I can hear!...  
A loud bang at the end of the hallway made me jump and brought me out of my thoughts. Thudding footsteps were heard on the cold, shiny marble and two sets of feet stood directly I front of my cage.  
"This is it" I heard a male whitecoat say. "Subject M20415wwd. Take her to the containment cell on level C, with F23423eff.  
"Yes, sir" the other responded, and a moment later, my crate door swung open.  
Without thinking, I crawled out quickly and leapt into action. I swung out my leg and kicked one hard the ankle, making him yell out as I leapt to my feet and punched another in the stomach.  
They both went down with their faces scrunched up pain, which I couldn't help grinning at. Humans were so delicate, if I'd done the same thing to Fang or Iggy, they only would've lost their breath. I turned to run when a searing hot pin shot up my leg, I bit my lip to stop from crying out as water started to build-up behind m eyelids. Two beefy hands pulled at my legs, making me fall to the floor.  
"Don't hurt her!" the first whitecoat yelled through gritted teeth. "Just take her to Level C and put her with the other subject.  
"Yes, sir" another vice said, but my head felt woozy now and it felt like my body had been paralyzed. I was pulled up to my feet and lead stumbling down different hallways like a lost puppy, until we came to a white door with a funny code on the front.  
My eyes were still blurry with water, and I had no time to read it before the door was swung open and I was roughly pushed in. I heard the door double bolt shut behind me and I stumbled to my knees.  
Ooh…my head… I groaned silently.  
Not to self: Whitecoats have taser guns now. They hurt. And make your body and your eyes all funny.  
I groaned aloud and raised a hand to shield my eyes from the bright lights overhead. For the first time, I felt that the floor I was kneeling on was…soft, almost. Whatever it was, it was better than the steel floor of my crate.  
"Max!" A voice yelled and instantly a pair of ropy, hard arms circled me and a scent surrounded me.  
Fang's scent.  
I felt some of the tension leave my shoulders as my eyes started to focus again, seeing a pair of dark, deep eyes and dark hair falling in front of an olive face.  
"Fang..." I muttered in surprise and relief. Fang's eyes seemed to darken with something and wordlessly he hauled me to my feet. I muttered a 'whoa' as my kness shook, and Fang frowned at me.  
I tried to grin at him and stuck out my tongue teasingly.  
"I'm alright, just give me one sec so I can find my balance--"  
"They shocked you, didn't they?" Fang said, as more of a statement than a question.  
"Yeah..."  
"You tried to run?"  
"Yeah...and I think I accidentally broke one of the whitecoat's kneecaps. Oops..."  
Fang smirked at me and cocked his head to the side.  
"I can't leave you alone for five minutes..." Fang sighed out, pretending to be frustrated.  
I shrugged at him and he held my shoulders to steady me on my feet.  
Or, at least that's what I thought he was doing.  
Fang put his hand under my knees and pulled my up into his arms, making me blush and look at him quizzically.  
"What are you doing?" I demanded. Fang smirked again at me. "You can't walk, and I need to talk with you alone. Meaning where the whitecoats can't see."  
My senses went on high alert.  
"What do you mean by 'where the whitecoats can't see'?" I asked him.  
Fang kept his gaze steadily on mine, but his eyes flicked over is shoulder, making me follow.  
There was a large shiny, reflective (ow…my eyes…) mirror on one wall, and I quickly caught Fang's eyes in understanding. "That's a two way mirror, isn't it?" I said, and Fang nodded solemnly.  
Fang's back was to the mirror and I saw him stand up straighter and flex his shoulders, causing me to instinctively tuck my legs into my body, trying to make myself smaller behind his frame.  
(Or at least that's the way they describe it on the Discovery Channel: A Bird's Eye Special. Don't ask, but Gazzy decided he wanted to learn more about his 'avian-DNA' and made us all sit through a four hour documentary on birds and habits. Blah blah, etc. etc.)  
Fang walked over to the right wall and walked towards the mirror, making me do a double take.  
For a top-secret facility, these guys need a new architect…I thought to myself in disbelief.  
Right by the door that I had been thrown into, there was a three-cornered space (or at least, that how I can describe it.)  
The wall was flat, but then seemed to move outwards before the mirror started, leaving a little corner that was impossible to see behind (or so I hoped).  
I shot Fang a hesitant look and he nodded at me.  
"I was thinking the same thing when I got here. It's strange that they have such an obvious place to hide, especially since the mirror doesn't give the whitecoats access to it. But I've looked over every part of it. There's wires or cameras or explosives or electric tiles…or drop-out floors or—"  
"Thank you, spy-supremo" I muttered, causing Fang to smirk in amusement. I shifted awkwardly when he just stood still and looked at me curiously, clearing my throat to snap him out of it.  
"Uhh…Fang? Can you put me down now?" I asked. Fang smirked again and dropped me (literally) onto the floor.  
"…Thank you…and ow" I muttered, pulling myself slowly to my feet. I could stand again—thankfully, and I walked around our hiding spot to see if it was okay.  
"So, what'd you want to talk to me about?" I asked him, hoping it wasn't more bad news.  
"I just wanted to say that I overheard the whitecoats talking and they uh…" Fang trailed off and narrowed his eyes. "They ummm…uh…"  
Okay, now I was getting worried. Fang never stutters. EVER.  
"Fang?" Are you okay?" I asked him worriedly seeing hi tilt his head to the side. "Is the room spinning or something?... you better sit down bud…"  
"No, no!" Fang interrupted waving his hand, "It's just uhh…oh crap!... Max…leave now…" Fang muttered and clutched his head.  
I did the exact opposite and put my hands on his shoulders.  
"Fang!?...Fang!?" I said worriedly.  
"Damnit!" Fang suddenly yelled making me jump. "It's the injection!"  
'"Wait! What injection?" I asked him, seeing him shaking his head and swaying on his feet (not a good thing, especially not with Fang). I was beginning to panic.  
"That one the whitecoats gave you outside the dog crates?"  
"No, other one..." Fang muttered through clenched teeth.  
Oh no! He's in pain now! I thought.  
"Stop looking at me!" Fang suddenly barked out coldly, making me stare at him. Okay, something was definitely whack with Fang.  
"No" I retorted at him. "Why should i?" Fang growled at my stubbornness ( You can tell that I do this a lot. Hehe)  
"They injected me with that stupid bloodlust 'antidote' junk and they've kept me in here top see if it works! Which it obviously doesn't because my head is spinning and my blood is pounding in my ears and having you—looking at me like that is gonna make me go crazy!!" Fang yelled angrily.  
I took a step back in shock at what he'd said, hoping my face wasn't showing what I was thinking.  
Oh…uh-oh…why does this look way too familiar? I wondered desperately.  
I backed up slowly as Fang starred at me viciously. Like I was meat and he was hungry.  
Uh-oh…  
My instincts were screaming at me to run, but before I could move Fang pushed me against the wall and kissed me.

* * *

To be continued... 

Ooh! Faxness make-out session approching! LOL


	20. Fang ? Or The Flock ?

Sorry bout the delay guys. Hehehe...

I've been busy over New Years so I couldn't post. Which reminds me...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 20 

Fang kissed me.  
I stumbled back and hit the wall in surprise, but a second later Fang's arms were around me and everything but him disappeared from my mind. His kisses were so good...so temping...so good...  
Like a switch had been flicked, everything in my vision suddenly became sharper, every sound and scent heightened and I felt an enormous craving to kiss Fang hard and passionately go through me.  
And then I realised that I couldn't control my body, and realised with horror that I was in bloodlust.  
And apparently, Fang was too.  
As we continued the kiss, I suddenly realised for the second time how much I loved the taste of Fang's lips. They defined everything that was Fang--- slightly dark yet sweet and once you had a taste of it, you needed more. It was like sugar when you're hyper. You need it, love it, can't get enough of it…  
Fang pulled me tightly against him, trapping me between the wall and his body, but I didn't care. I wasn't going anywhere. My body was acting on it's own, but my brain was starting to go with it as the more Fang kissed me the more everything else just disappeared from my mind.  
He kissed me more passionately than before and I slipped my arms around his neck on instinct. His lips were now moving faster, more teasingly over my own and I felt myself longing for this kiss to never end. His hand was running through my hair swiftly and he was hugging my body to his in such a way that I felt dizzy with pleasure.  
Suddenly, Fang pulled back slightly and began biting my bottom lip lightly before kissing me again.  
Stupid tease.  
My body was betraying me, as a satisfied noise came up from deep in my throat, making me pull Fang even closer to me and run my hands through his thick hair needily.  
Fang's tongue suddenly slipped into my mouth, kissing me so passionately that my head spun. It felt so good and I found myself returning the gesture and kissing him just as hard \ as he was kissing me. He teased me by running his tongue over my teeth and slowing down our fast pace so he could kiss me tenderly and adoringly, making me too happy and dizzy with pleasure to complain when another husky sound rose from my throat.  
Fang growled low in his throat, happy with my reaction and put his hand up the back of my shirt, rubbing the skin of my back teasingly as he kissed me It felt so good to have him kissing me again, it felt like we hadn't kissed in forever and I was beginning to remember why Fang was so alluring. I just wanted to keep kissing him and keep him as close to me as possible.  
But there was still a little, and almost unheard part of my brain yelling that this was going too far too fast. But I did say that part of my brain was little and pretty much unheard, so I ignored it.  
Fang pulled my head tenderly closer to his and kissed me deeply, making me almost purr in satisfaction. I felt my hands move of their own accord, a flash of sharp nails, before they snuck into the neck of Fang's shirt and rubbed his collarbone.  
That was when the little voice in my head got louder.  
Oh no! I thought in desperation. No no no no no no no! I am not—  
Fang growled huskily in his throat, making me eyes open slightly to see him starring at me in amusement before he crushed me to him and sipped his tongue back into my more than willing mouth. My hands griped his shoulders to steady myself from the pleasure before I kissed him back ferociously and my hands slipped under Fang's loose black T-shirt to put my hands on his chest.  
…putting my hands…under…Fang's… shirt… I finished in complete shock and defeat at seeing myself -- not to mention feeling myself -- running my hands over Fang's skin.  
Please kill me now…this is so wrong….and so embarrassing…but his skin is so smooth and it feels so good under my fingers—  
AHHH! NO! Bad Max, bad!!! No thinking of Fang like that! No! I scolded quickly, mortified and ashamed of myself.  
But it was no use. I had no control over my body and my mind wasn't exactly thinking of a way to escape either. My head was hazy with pleasure and I couldn't think straight. Not to mention, having a gorgeous guy kissing you can really be a distraction.  
Suddenly there was a sharp pain in my side and I winced, pulling away from the kiss dazedly to see that Fang was gripping me tightly to him. I heard myself give a little whimper of protest, and Fang's hands tightened around me.  
I gave a quiet yelp in pain, feeling my side starting to hurt more from Fang's claws digging into me. Fang growled in the back of his throat, his dangerous cat-like eyes snapping up to meet mine.  
His eyes flashed darkly and he growled again, barring sharp fangs at me in protest before pulling me into another passionate, dizzying kiss.  
But the kiss wasn't what I was focused on, since his hands were really starting to hurt against my sides. As if sensing my discomfort, Bloodlust-Fang (as I'm now going to call him) pulled away, looking at me through alert, half-lidded eyes and decided to help me relax.  
He dug his claws into me and ripped.  
I cried out loudly, in serious pain to the point where my eyes were watering with the effort it took not to yell at the intensity of pain. I felt something warm and sticky at my side and realised with horror it was my own blood.  
Fang had cut me open with his claws. And he'd done it easily. Like I was butter or something!  
Fang growled loudly, but when I looked up at him, Fang's eyes were bright with satisfaction and want and his hair was falling messily in front of his dark eyes. He looked feral, dangerous, sexy, and like nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted.  
Me.  
And for the first time in my life… I was scared of Fang….  
I tried to push him away from me (which was as successful as trying to move a brick wall), and tried to ask him-- "Uhhh, Fang? Would you mind getting off of me and helping me to stop bleeding all over my sweatshirt?", which in reality, came out as me whimpering pathetically.  
Oh, (Insert-swear-word-of-your-choice-here-and-then-you-ll-understand-excatly-how-I'm-feling-right-now).  
I'm in deep, deep trouble -- like Titanic deep, trouble.  
And wouldn't you know it? There's no one here to help me!...Crap.

I yelped out in pain as Fang's claws raked over me and he gave a possessive growl. I bit my lip to stop from yelling out when suddenly, Fang jumped back from me.  
Surprised, I looked over at him to see that his eyes were wide, his jaw slack, and he was breathing heavily.  
He was normal again.  
And he was looking at me like I'd just pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest.  
"Oh gods…" Fang muttered in shock and I tried to laugh, but it came out as a wheezy cough.  
"You wouldn't happen to have a Band-Aid would you?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood but Fang's eyes were dark and hollow, and I knew that he hadn't heard me.  
Fang flicked his gaze over my body in horror, never taking his eyes off of me, before he suddenly swore as loudly and as explicit as I'd ever heard him swear, and he moved hesitantly towards me.  
Out of reflex, I flinched.  
Instantly, I regretted it when I saw Fang freeze in place and began backing away regretfully.  
"Fang" I said softly, but he moved even further back from me with a look of pure determination and a silent beg of forgiveness on his face.  
"Fang…" I said again, hoping to reassure him about what had happened.  
"Fang! You had no control over your body… relax, it's okay. You're uhh, c-coming out of bloodlust in what? Only three or four days now …a-and I'm fine—"  
"I tore open your side and you're bleeding" Fang stated, still never taking his eyes off of me. "And it's not just a little scratch, you're bleeding heavily and it looks like it's not going to stop anytime soon. It's all my fault…oh gods, Max…" he trailed off.  
I met his eyes and saw that they were filled with guilt and horror at what he'd just done to me, and I felt a lump rise in my throat when I saw that Fang had that stone–cold look in his eyes.  
"Fang…" I began again, but he interrupted me.  
"No" he said coolly. "This was entirely my fault and you can't be here now…nor can the Flock…I just…I'm dangerous… I need to get you out of here…"  
"Fang!" I pleaded, but loud, hurried footsteps stopped me from speaking. We both turned to the door automatically as it swung open and a group of worried-looking whitecoats ran in with tasers.  
Uhh, I hate to be the one to tell you this fellas, but… you're late… I thought sarcastically to myself.  
Seeing the two of us in the no-longer-secret-corner they ran at us.  
Bad move.  
I pushed myself off of the wall and lunged for the closest one, but ended up tripping when the my side blazed with pain.  
Fang leapt up and roundhouse-kicked him in the face. And you'd be surprised at how fragile human's are.  
As soon as Fang's foot made impact, he spun and punched another. He went effortlessly from one to another until all of them ended up on the floor writhing in pain.  
Fang's good like that.  
"Come on!"  
Fang said and grabbed my hand, quickly helping me to run out of the room and into the hallway. Carefully yet swiftly, Fang and I ran through hallway after hallway, making only one mistake when we ran past a couple of whitecoats, but we wewre gone down the next hallwqay before they could blink.  
"We have to find the others and get out" I told him, and he wordlessly nodded at me.  
I let out a small sigh of relief, hoping that Fang was back to normal and had put him attacking me out of his mind.  
"The others should be around here somewhere" Fang said, his voice sounding thicker than usual. "You grab them all and run, I'll stay."  
Time seemed to freeze for a second before it came crashing in on me.  
'What!?" I said in disbelief. "Fang! You're part of the Flock and you are coming with us!" I told him, leaving no room for argument. "Fang! You are not--"  
"Max, I refuse to let you put yourself in danger because of me!...And I just—dang it! Max!...I'm sorry, but this is for your own good…I'm not going to let you be hurt by me ever again…" Fang told me, his hair falling into his eyes and blocking my gaze at him.  
I felt like everything had just gone crazy all around me and I could've sworn my heart skipped a beat at his words.  
Fang never says sorry.  
And I mean, NEVER.  
"Fang, please" I said, not caring that I sounded desperate. "Fang, listen to me!"  
"No!" Fang replied quickly. "Look at what I did to you! I'm a monster! No, I'm worse than that because I'm not even human let alone a normal human-avian, Max! I'm dangerous, uncontrollable and someone that almost killed you! You need to stay away from me before I hurt you again or do worse!!!"  
Fang pulled me swiftly around another corner and down a long hallway I was beginning to recognise. This was where the rest of the Flock was being kept.  
Fang must've memorized the way... I thought distractedly as Fang pulled me quickly around another corner.  
Fang suddenly let go of my hand and pushed me protectively in front of him. I spun around in confusion as Fang spoke again.  
"I swore to myself on the fist day you told me about Bloodlust that I would kill myself if I ever hurt you! And I'd rather die now than have you get hurt again or hurt the others! Why can't you see that!? You guys mean too much to me and I would rather kill myself than hurt any of you! Now GO!"  
"Fang!!" I yelled.  
Fang took off like a dark blur around the corner before I could stop him and I did the stupidest thing I could've possibly done in those two seconds.  
I hesitated.  
Do I go after Fang? Or save the rest of my Flock?  
Do I choose Fang over the others? Or the others over Fang?  
Each of them is a part of my Flock and my family, and all of them are more important to me than I could ever describe...  
Who do I choose!?!?  
Damnit!  
"FANG!!!!"  
I yelled as loud as I could and I prayed to a God that I hardly believe existed that there would be an answer to my call.  
… There was nothing but silence ...

* * *

Dun dun DUHHHH!!!!

...I can't believe I just did that to Max...

o-0


	21. Life Without Him

Hey y'all !!!

Sorry bout the long delay between chapters but I've been crazy with homework.

Anywho, a couple people hasve told mke that its really hard to read without double spacing, so I tried to fix that, but it didn't come out quite the way I wanted. But I hope it's easier now for you all !!!

And this chapter goes out especially to **luver of all that is hot&male!,** who not only has a funny name but celebrated a birthday a little while ago...or so I'm told...

And to **Odet Mae** and her sister **xXfangsluvr6Xx, **and to **CelticDragonQueens**, who convinced me to actually stop being lazy and post this chapter. LOL. So you can thank them for this new chapter!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 21

"FANG!!!!"

I yelled as loud as I could and I prayed to a God that I hardly believe existed that there would be an answer to my call.

….There was nothing but silence.

I heard pounding footsteps coming from behind, but it was heavy and more than one.  
Erasers.

I swore aloud as my decision was made for me, and I felt a knot of regret pit in my stomach.

Don't think, just act, Max I told myself.

I turned away and ran down the hall and dropped to my knees when I heard Angel's voice calling out to me. Within a few seconds, I cracked the lock over her cage and told her to get Nudge while I grabbed Gazzy and Iggy.

I unlocked Iggy's gage and Iggy was out in a flash, immediately working on Gazzy's lock, breaking it twice as fast as I had could've hoped to do.

Thank gods Iggy knows how to pick locks like he knows how to breathe!

"Guys, the door down the next hall! Move!" I called as I heard the feral snarl of an Eraser right behind me. My Flock took of like we were running for our lives (literally) and I pushed them all out of the door as fast as I could.

Well….. all of them but one… I thought to myself, then mentally hit myself and tried to push the thought out of my mind.

You cannot focus on the past and what is done if you hope to move forward… My Voice suddenly chimed in my ear, seeming to come from nowhere (as always.)

I would've loved to have made some snappy remark back at it, but I had none. My head was buzzing already without having my Voice bugging me.

As we pushed through the door, we got lucky -- that's the only way I can describe it. We ended up through one of the few doors that lead to the "practice arena" that was better known as where the Erasers tore apart their prey and laughed and then ripped apart a few more.  
It wasn't exactly pleasant, but it was outside.

And the only thing separating us from freedom was a thin wire fence that surrounded the area. I heard a door being thrown open behind us and I turned to see a swarm of Erasers and a group panicked whitecoats chasing after us.

Why do I feel like I'm going through deja-vu? I asked myself sarcastically before I unfurled my wings and ran.

"Guys! U and A! Go, go, go!" I yelled, watching with pride as my little ones and Iggy all took off like arrows into the air. Gazzy hovered for a split-second to touch Iggy's palm, leading him up and over the fence as I leapt to my feet to follow them.

Unfortunately, before I could get high enough, a large hand grabbed my ankle. Gravity took its force (along with the Eraser's strength), and I was pulled down roughly, wincing as I bounced off the hard ground. Before I could react, an Eraser put his heavy foot over my throat and I choked for breath.

Stupid…jerk… I thought to myself as I managed to squint through the sunlight to see who was holding me down.

Who else? It was Ari.

Ari growled lowly, a feral grin creeping over his face as he leaned close to me, wagging his finger and grinning like he'd just won a videogame.

"Ah, ah, ah…big, plump birdies like you are supposed to stay for dinner, Max" Ari hissed at me with a grin. I narrowed my eyes at him, finally finding the breath to speak.

"Well, for your information…" I muttered through laboured breaths. "I…may be a big, plump bird….but you're ugly…and I can diet…" I said, grinning to myself.

Ari's eyes narrowed at this and I knew that now was the time to act. I kicked up my leg and managed to hit Ari directly behind his knees.

Bull's-eye!

Ari yelled out in pain and collapsed to his knees, releasing his foot from over my throat. I jumped to my feet and leapt over him, hearing whitecoats shouting in panic to confused Erasers as I took off down towards the fence.

See ya suckers! I thought to myself as I neared the fence, when suddenly (as always when the world thinks I'm getting too confident) pain burned into my side.

I let out a ragged gasp through clenched teeth and forced myself to keep running. I had almost forgotten about that cut on my side, I'd have to look at it later…

I heard an angry growl behind me and realised that the Erasers had gained a little when the pain hit, making me put all I had into the last few feet before the fence.

Now! I thought triumphantly as I leapt into the air and unfurled my wings. I winced as I was jerked roughly by my wings being thrown open so suddenly and I lost a few feet, quickly pushing up with my wings when Erasers tried grabbing for my heels.

"Max!" I heard Iggy call out and I flew towards my Flock yelling at them to start flying. All of us flew off as fast as we could (wouldn't you) until the school was nothing more than a black speck behind us, but I knew that we still needed to get further way. (Truthfully, the end of the earth still wouldn't be fare way enough for me, but hey, you learn to accept what you get.)

"Max?" Gazzy chirped up timidly as a steady silence overtook us. "Where's Fang?'  
I physically wince at the question, and then mentally hit myself for being so open.

Now the younger ones are going to get worried!...dang it…

Gazzy must've seen some weird expression on my face of how I was feeling and quickly spoke up again. "It's okay actually. Fang knows how to find us and he'll be fine" Gazzy said, and I felt tears well up in my eyes at how brave little Gazzy was being, meanwhile I was a complete mess inside (I'm turning into such a cry-baby.)

I forced a smile onto my face and nodded at him, spotting a group of high cliffs in the distance, and told my Flock to head for them. That was going to be our bed for the night. And I silently was hoping to myself that I could believe Gazzy's words as guilt pooled sickeningly in my stomach again.

Fang would know how to find us later…wouldn't he?...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Okay guys! Up and at 'em!" I yelled, making my Flock all mumble as I woke them up from their sleep. Angel and Gazzy were curled together in a corner and Iggy stumbled to his feet as Nudge yawned.

"Max?" Nudge began and I sighed, knowing what was coming. "I'm hungry. Can we go get something to eat?" Nudge asked.

I forced a smile and nodded at her.

"That's the plan. We grab some grub and then see if we can find Fang" I said, forcing the smile to stay put even as my heart felt like I dropped it over at cliff at the mention of Fang.  
"Cool" Iggy mumbled as he shrugged, helping Angel and Gazzy to their feet. "Okay folks, you heard the Maxinator, let's go" Iggy said, unfurling his wings and the others followed suit.  
I sighed to myself and muttered a quick 'thank you' in Iggy's ear as he passed. He just nodded in understanding at me.

I guided Iggy out of the cave and we both swooped out into the air, glad to feel the wind in our hair (not to mention feathers) again after being in the School. The place was a nightmare, but it sure helped you to appreciate the little things in life.

After we had escaped the School, everyone had immediately wanted to know where Fang was and what had happened to him. (Well, excluding Angel after she read my mind without permission.)

Reluctantly, I told them pretty-much-truthfully that Fang had run off so that we could all escape while the whitecoats and Erasers were busy with him. I tried to sound light-hearted, like it was no big deal and that Fang would easily be back I a few hours. And although I could see the concern on everyone's faces, they seemed to believe it.  
Hey, even I had believed it then…

After the first night, when I woke up to see that Fang wasn't there, I forced myself to stay calm. He'd show up later in the afternoon…I was positive…

Then the second night came and passed, I was starting to worry. But this was Fang we were talking about— there was no way he couldn't come back.

By the third night, I was worried and starting to feel really anxious. I was desperately hoping that Fang would come back tonight…

And after the fourth night came around and there was still no sign of Fang, I was officially an emotional mess.

Thank goodness for Iggy-- he had been a huge help.

Ig kept the little guys occupied with games and kept them from bugging me too much about Fang. And even then, he'd been the one I had ranted to—told him about what had really happened (since he already knew about the whole bloodlust thing) and how much I hated myself for having even considered leaving Fang. But Fang was gone now, and it was day five since we'd escaped, and there was still no sign of him.

Where could he be? Fang has to be okay...at least I hope he is...

No! Come on, Max! This Fang! He's a tough guy, and he can take care of himself. I'm sure he's fine…probably watching us somewhere and not showing it just so he can make me feel bad for leaving him…and so that he can turn me into a twitchy, worried, nervous, panicky, uptight, fretful, emotional mess….yeah, that's all…

I had to roll my eyes at myself for this thought (you can see how bad this is, since I'm rolling my eyes at myself! Does that give off 'insanity' vibes or what?)

Yeah right, I thought to myself.

Although Fang would love to see me as a twitchy, worried, nervous, panicky, uptight, fretful, emotional mess (try saying that three times fast), he'd never be gone this long unless something had happened.

And it was all my fault.

I bit my lip worriedly as a list off all the things that could've happened to him and what was happening to him now ran through my head like a bad film.

_Leave him..._ My Voice whispered. 

  
I did a double take in disbelief at hearing my Voice and what it had just said. 

  
WHAT!? I mentally yelled. I am not leaving Fang! 

_You already have... _my Voice hissed, making me wince guiltily.

_Max, you left Fang for the better interest of your Flock… So now, you need to focus on that same Flock and forget Fang…you did place them above him, didn't you?_

That's not fair! I defended, although a part of me was ashamed that it was true.

I had no choice! Fang had already disappeared and it was save the other four or risk all six of us staying at the School…and besides, I thought you said that you didn't care anymore if I liked Fang or whatever! I shot back desperately, sounding like complete idiot but hey, I tried.

_I said that if being with Fang would make you happy and help you focus on saving then world, then so be it…but Fang is no longer here…and so, you should be focusing on your destiny of saving the world Max…the entire planet is depending on you, Maximum!…and are you willing to risk their lives for Fang's?..._

Do you want me to answer that honestly, politely, or dead-serious-and-rudely-in-your-face? I asked my Voice, mocking sweetness.

A sharp pain shot through my head as a warning.

_This is no joke…you need to focus, Max…the time for your part in destiny is coming sooner than you think…_

Ooo…spooky… I thought sulkily, not wanting to listen or care about anything my Voice had to say. Although, a little part of me was a little creeped out by the last bit.

My destiny is coming sooner than I think? What does that mean? The end of the world is tomorrow? Or is it the day after tomorrow?

"Max…."

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Gazzy waving his hand in my face and calling my name. I grinned sheepishly and did a double take when I saw a four hotdogs in his hands. He handed two to me as I looked at him I confusion.

"Where did you guys get these?" I asked. Gazzy looked at me skeptically.

"We went and got them while you were in a trance. We called your name like four times, but you were zoned out. So we went and got the food without you…"

"Oh…" muttered, looking at the now very appetizing and mouth-watering hotdog.  
"Umm…okay. But how'd you—"

"We took them when the owner wasn't looking" Angel muttered, a guilty but satisfied smile n her face. "No-one saw us though. We made sure…"

"Ah…well then…I guess now we…go back to the cave" I said, awkwardly turning and flying back, trying hard to ignore the hard look Iggy was throwing in my direction.

I understood it perfectly but stilled pretended not to see it.

We'd been at the same cave for almost five days. The cave was great protection and had a great location, but it wasn't too far away from the School. They'd find us soon and haul us back into dog crates unless we moved further away. Soon.

And I knew that Iggy cared for Fang as much as I did, but we both knew that if we didn't move on soon, we were toast.

Unfortunately for Iggy, I'm stubborn as you-know-what sometimes. And I was not going to leave Fang again. Even if the Erasers had to drag me out of that cave, I was staying there until Fang showed up.

We landed gently on the rim of the high, mountain-side cave and walked in, settling to sit on rocks or grooves we found in the walls or floor.

Iggy sat close to me and gave me another of the warning looks as he bit into his hot dog. Again, I feigned being dumb.

Nudge made a small noise and scooted over from Angel and Gazzy.

"Awww, Gazzy" she muttered through the last of a bite of hot dog. "Was that you?"  
Gazzy stopped chewing in confusion.

"Phno…" he muttered, and that's when I heard it too. A low groaning, like someone's stomach rumbling too loudly or a door swinging slowly open.

Nudge must've thought he farted again… I thought in amusement and went for another bite of hot dog.

But then the sound changed, and I froze.

A low croaking noise came from behind me and I stiffened, training my ears on the sound and watching as my Flock all stiffened too. So I wasn't imagining it…

There was a loud thud and a scraping sound, and I jumped up and pushed my Flock protectively away. There was a scratching on the ground and a rustle of movement  
Ok-ay, there was definitely something behind us.

"Max…" Nudge said worriedly and I pushed her back a little farther. The closer we were to the edge of the cliff, the better chance we had of escaping.

And of course, Gazzy being Gazzy, he poked his head over my arm to squint at whatever the noise was.  
"It looks weird…" Gazzy muttered to me and tried to push past me, which wasn't going to happen, as I pushed him back again.

There was another sound, louder this time and the croak was ragged and breathless. "Wait… Iggy said, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "…It sounds like a wounded animal or something..."

I squinted into the blackness of the cave with my raptor vision, and my breath hitched in my throat.

Oh gods…I thought in worry and relief all together.

"Guys, it's Fang! And he's hurt!" I said.

* * *

ALAS!

Fang returns! Woohoo!!!

But I'm really sorry about beating him till he sounded like a wounded animal!...hehehe...

_-- nervous laughter --_

...hehehe...please don't hurt me ?! ...


	22. Fang Is Back And We Need H2O!

_--- CK flies in from out of nowhere, waving a piece of paper above her head victoriously--_

ALAS! I'm FINALLY done the next chapter! _--huff huff--_ So sorry to you all for the wait! _--huff huff--_ but I got it! _--huff huff-_- and believe it or not...

... **This story is almost done !!!** Just two more chapters after this, and it's finito!

I hope you like it guys!

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 22

I squinted into the blackness of the cave with my raptor vision, and my breath hitched in my throat.

Oh gods… I thought in worry and relief all together.

"Guys, it's Fang! And he's hurt!" I said. Immediately we all ran forward, but only a few steps in and I was suddenly stunned by what I saw.

"Gu—whoa!" I exclaimed, turning on my heel and immediately shoving the young-ins away.

"Hey!" Gazzy protested but I just shoved him back farther.

"Iggy" I called, ignoring the three struggling kids in my arms.

"Take four steps, drop to the floor—that's where Fang is -- and feel out how bad Fang's wounds are!" I ordered, and Iggy obediently did just that.

"Why can't we see him?" Angel asked, pouting, and I turned away from her big blue eyes and closed off my mind from her just in case.

Fang did not look good. At all.

I'd only gotten a quick glimpse but it had sent me reeling in nerves and worry. He had cuts, scrapes, bruises, blood, dirt and a whole lot of other stuff all over him. Not top mention he was white as a ghost, and his lips were purple….if I had seen right.

Iggy sucked in a breath and swore, and I struggled to keep Nudge from pushing past me.  
"It's bad" Iggy said, his voice thick with concern. "Fang, I don't have a clue what you did to yourself….but he's got tons of bruises, deep cuts, and he's got a fever. A high one. And his breathing is ragged too…." Iggy trailed off for a minute and all of us went silent.

"He's sick?" Nudge said quietly. "Iggy, is he sick? Like a bad sick or just something that'll go away? What's wrong with him? What happened?..."

Okay, as team leader and as a caring person in general (yeah right), my Flock getting hurt is bad. But having one of my Flock (Fang, of all people!) getting sick and being hurt at the same time? That's not bad, that's just messed up. That's Mother Nature being cruel.

"Nah…" Iggy muttered softly, more to himself than us. I heard Fang weakly groan again in a raspy voice.

"Max… I think he's dehydrated…" Iggy said from the darkness and my head snapped up.  
"What?" I said, the sound of my own voice startling me. I sounded like one of those stupid girls on TV after they've heard that their boyfriend is dating their best friend's aunt's daughter and they're about to cry. (And those girls are only on TV for their ridiculous looks, just so we're clear)

An aching pain went through my head and I rolled my eyes, wincing when the horrible, whiny little Voice came back.

Maximum… it said in a warning tone.

Great, I thought. Now you're my mother? Che!

Forget Fang… my Voice hissed calmly. You need to focus on your destiny… it is coming, Max!... Sooner than you think, too… You're once again letting yourself become distracted by foolish teenage---

Joy? Relief? That weird teenage feeling of oh-my-gosh-thank-the-lord-if-there-is-one-that-my-best-friend-is-alive-and-breathing? I know, teenage emotions like that are so annoying, aren't they?

A sharp pain shot through my head and I gasped, screwing my eyes shut as they began to water.

"Max?" I heard Angel say worriedly and the three younger ones stopped struggling in my arms, looking at me worriedly, but the Voice rudely interrupted.

I'm warning you, Max. Get your priorities straightened out…the world is depending on you, not Fang…so leave him be…

Well too bad!… I shot back angrily. Because I have my priorities straight, and Fang and The Flock come before you! So ha! I shot back childishly.

There was no response, but currently, I didn't care. I just wanted to make sure Fang was okay…

"Ig …how do you know its dehydration?" I asked him, curiosity setting in to replace my worry.

I could faintly hear Iggy let out a nervous chuckle.

"I can't see him, but I can feel that he's really weak and his muscles are tight. His skin is dry, his palms are cracked…his lips probably are too, maybe even bleeding. And his breathing is obviously really ragged which means his throat is dry as paper, and his heartbeat is fast…they're all signs of dehydration. Weakness, probably hallucinations, parched throat, difficulty breathing, fast heartbeat yada yada yada…"

I tried to see Iggy but couldn't through the blackness (and trying to hold off three strong kids who wanted to see what was wrong.)

There was an awkward silence that followed Iggy talking.

"I've been reading" Iggy explained, and out of instinct, I raised an eyebrow that he couldn't see. Gazzy, Angel and I looked between each other in confusion.

Another of Iggy's faint chuckles floated from the darkness to us.

"Nudge's been reading me stuff from dictionaries and encyclopedias" Iggy said. I shot a look at Nudge.

"Anyway," Iggy continued. "You learn to retain information when so much as one of your primary senses become weakened or disappear, hence the reason why those with disabilities or sensory problems have better-than-average memories. Because the lobe of their brains which controls memory, expands slightly and allows more knowledge to be accepted and retained, giving those with disabilities or those who are deaf, blind, mute, even those without a sense of smell have excellent memories."

I stood in a stunned silence at everything Iggy had just said.

I turned warily to Angel, Nudge and Gazzy, all who looked ridiculous, but hey, I probably looked the same. But just how much of the dictionary and how many encyclopedias had Nudge been reading to him? I don't think she understood half of what he'd just said...or of what she'd been reading to him.

"You copied that from the dictionary…" Angel said, grinning slightly.

"Yup!" was the answer that came back to us. I couldn't help but grin.

Oh Iggy…is there anything that can keep you out of trouble?!... I wondered to myself.

"But Fang needs water guys. It's serious..." Iggy said, his voice going back to a serious tone.  
"Dehydration can cause the body to shut down…which I think it already has. He smells like vomit…--" Angel and Nudge both wrinkled their noses. I heard Iggy cough awkwardly.

"And umm… for him to be dehydrated is worse than most…see, birds are supposed to have pockets of water in them like they have pockets of oxygen inside their bodies. It helps during long-distance flights and stuff…and uhh, oh dang it! What was it?...something else too.

But anyways, I'm not 100 positive tat we have these water pockets, even though we are part-avian….but if Fang is dehydrated that mean that he's been a long time without water, or something is drying him out…we need to get him a whole load of water and fast. Do you—guys?...guys?...guys?!..." Iggy trailed off when he couldn't hear anything. Realization dawned on him and he sighed.

They'd taken off to get water before he even finished.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Angel, Nudge, Gazzy and I arrived back at the cave within a minute.

We'd flown as fast as we could— and found a river.

It was pretty small, but size doesn't always count, (like the Erasers verses us. Sometimes, smaller is better... especially when it comes to huge, hairy wolf men that have no idea how to fly.)

But the small river did have fresh water, so I was grateful for that.

It was then, though, (being the brilliant kids we are) that we realised we hadn't brought anything to carry water back with. Which was why when we arrived back at the cave, all of us had our jackets off and filled with water.

….What? They were the best buckets we could find!

What else could we have done?

Transfer water to him by mouth-to mouth? Sorry, but that's too hard (not that I would, mind…but Fang's health comes first, and you didn't hear that from me!).  
Bring him an entire lake? I would have loved to, but couldn't.

Gazzy was the first one into the cave, running to Iggy like a faithful pet and taking care not to spill a drop of water.

I landed second, but moved aside to give Angel and Nudge room to land, then the three of us quickly carried our "buckets" of water over to Fang.  
Err…well, Nudge and Angel did at least.

I didn't quite make the long, treacherous journey to give Fang water. I was the most brilliant of one of The Flock all (note my sarcasm) and I tripped.

….yeah, I tripped over a rock.

And since I happened to be carrying a jacket filled with water when I fell, out of instinct I threw the jacket and put my hands in front of me to stop myself.  
And soaked everyone with water in the process.

….oops.

"MA-AX!" I heard everyone yell, and that's when I hit the ground on an angle, yelping in pain when a sharp rock jutted into me.

"Max!" I heard my girls yell out, and I felt my breath leave me in gasp, before a searing pain went through my side.

What in the --

"OW!!!—" I yelled out, before I quickly bit down on my bottom lip to stop myself.

Dang it! Can someone get me an ice-pack and a chocolate bar? I tried to joke, but it came out as me muttering lowly under my breath.

"Iggy!?!" I heard Nudge call out hysterically, as I tried to move, only to find that it hurt to try.

It hurts!… I thought in surprise, wincing as I finally managed to move, but my side burned painfully. Since when did rocks hurt so much anyways? I know that human's scrap their knees on rocks a lot, but come on! Searing pains?...

Maximum! My Voice hissed angrily, and a sharp pain shot through my head.

Hello again… I sighed to myself.

Be careful! Your abdomen has not yet healed and you've re-opened the wound! Seal it before you bleed out or collapse! My Voice hissed angrily at me, as another throb of pain went through my head.

What do you mean by 'my abdomen?'...oh…

He meant where Fang had slashed me open.

I closed my eyes in disbelief, feeling stupid that I had completely forgotten about Fang hurting me. I was so happy to have him back I'd forgotten all about it….and I was still willing to forget about it…

I pushed myself up to my hands and kness feeling my arms wobble slightly.

Angel suddenly shrieked and I saw her bury her face into Gazzy's frame from the corner of my eye, making my eyes widened and adrenaline slowly start to kick in.

What happened?! What's going on!? What's wrong, sweetheart!? I felt like asking.

I grabbed a big rock to pull myself to my feet, and that's when I realised that my hands felt wet, and…squishy.

I groaned aloud when I realised what it was, just as I heard Iggy's footsteps behind me.

Oh joy, I'm bleeding…

"Max?" I heard Iggy say cautiously as he held out his hand to help me up.

"I'm fine" I muttered, standing up and laughing lightly to him.

"Max...I smell a lot of blood…where are you bleeding?" Dr. Iggy asked me.

I sighed quietly. "Just my side, but don't worry Iggy, I'm complete –"

"Max…" I heard Angel say worriedly, her voice breaking off into a nervous whimper.

My heart ached at seeing my baby look so worried.

"Angel, sweetie..." I murmured reassuringly, "I'm fine …I promise…"

"W-where's all that b-blood from, then?" Angel asked, and that's when I started to worry.

Angel looked scared, not worried I realised, and that made my stomach jump a little. Angel's psychic mumbo-jumbo helped her to know almost everything…so what was making her freak out?!...

I saw her eyes tentatively flick to my jeans and before Angel could realise her mistake, I looked down too.

Needless to say, my eyes widened and I got a little scared too.

The whole one-side of my T-shirt was covered in wet blood, and there was an umm… 'large puddle' of blood (for lack of a better word) that was pooling around my worn-out sneakers.

I heard Angel whimper again.

Well…that's not good…

* * *

_--gasp--_

Yet another cliffhanger! ...but I promise not to let you all fall off of this cliff! I'm not that cruel!

LOL. The next chapter will be up soon --sooner than this one, of course.

...umm, yeah. See y'all later!


	23. My Family, My Life, My Small Joys

Hey-o!!! I'm back again! And with another chapter ! WOOT!!!!

I hope you all like this one as much as the others! And umm...I was wrong in my last post...there are 3 chapters left...THEN...it ends.

_--tear tear --_

_-- sniff sniff---_

I loved writing this fic! But all good things must come to an end eventually I guess.

_--CK grabs a tissue and cries into it---_

But enough of my sob-story, enjoy guys!!!

_Love from, CK

* * *

_

Chapter 23

Needless to say, my eyes widened and I got a little scared too.

The whole one-side of my T-shirt was covered in wet blood, and there was an umm… 'large puddle' of blood (for lack of a better word) that was pooling around my worn-out sneakers.

I heard Angel whimper again.

Well…that's not good…

"Ummm…anyone have a Band-Aid?" I joked, forcing myself to laugh.

No-one else laughed.

"Nnnn…" I heard Fang disconnectedly moan, and I turned in surprise, and then felt like my heart had been crushed.

I'd done this to him.

….oh gods… Fang…I'm sorry…so sorry…

"Max, I should bandage your side. Shoot…that definitely feels like a lot of blood Max. Hey, Gasser! Can you get an old shirt from the backpack?" Iggy asked, feeling my side gently.

Gazzy bit his lip awkwardly. "I think we left the backpack at the School…" he admitted sheepishly.

"Nnnnooo…" Fang suddenly moaned out softly, his voice broken and weak.

"Blo-odddd… ann-nnn --"

He suddenly cut out and coughed weakly, but it was so harsh and it sounded like he was suffocating.

Without thinking I ran over to him, ignoring the searing pain in my side, and knelt beside him. I quickly put his head in my lap and gathered water into my hands, pouring a trickle of water through his parted, cracked lips.

I could've sworn I saw his eyes brighten just a little bit with a secret smile.

"Fang… just…just…umm just…just…" I trailed off, not being able to find words to describe how horrible I felt and how much I wanted him to get better. I finally found my voice after a minute of silence.

"Shh…" I finally muttered softly, pushing his hair out of his eyes and running a strand through my fingers worriedly.

"Shh…just… rest...we're here now...we'll take care of you…just… relax…shhhhhh..." I whispered soothingly, and I saw Fang's eyes drift close. My heart stopped for a minute, fear taking hold of me as I panicked -- wanting to make sure he wasn't closing his eyes to die.

But Fang (weakly) turned a little and put his face into my other hand, which was resting on my knee.

"Mm-mmaaaxx…" he groaned out quietly, but a small smile crept onto his pale, dirty face. I felt my heart lurch into my throat and I could only stare down at him with pure admiration. I rubbed the strand of hair between my fingers softly before running my hand through all of his dirty, messy, thick, but wonderful hair.

I heard Iggy cough from behind us awkwardly. I flushed a little, but turned to him and my Flock grinning in an embarrassed way at me.

"We're gonna…umm, go get more water" Iggy said, gesturing with his hand to the open, edge of the cave.

I nodded at him but asked quietly, "But what are you going to use? The jackets are still here…"

"Ummm, I was thinkin' we'd just grab some buckets or pots from anyone camping near here, or just take some from any town we find…"

I raised an eyebrow at him, which Gazzy quickly mentioned to Iggy.

He grinned sheepishly at me. "We'll return them…" Iggy promised.

I sighed reluctantly at this and Iggy grinned, unfurling his wings and Gazzy grabbed his hand. Iggy knew that I would say yes anyways…

"Don't go too far" I said.

Iggy nodded at me.

"We won't, mom…now come on guys, let's give mom and dad their space…"

Iggy and the little guys took off before I could respond. Or…could try to respond...

I stiffened and couldn't help but stare at the now empty cave.

Iggy had just referred to Fang and I as "mom and dad."

…Talk about a shock…

I mean, I'd always seen myself as the Flock's leader and maybe there was just a teeny-weenie-little bit of "mom" in me. But having Fang as "dad"?! That was something I'd never even thought about, let alone considered.

And now it had hit me square in the face…

We really were a family.

The little guys did see Fang as their dad as me as their mom…and Iggy as their fun, crazy uncle/ cool older brother…Nudge as the talkative-teenage sister… Gazzy as the little guy…and Angel as the baby of the Flock.

Holy smokes…

I mean, I'm only fourteen! (Well, I am turning 15 in a few months but that's beside the point), and I already have a husband, a brother in-law, and three kids!?

….I dare you to name me one other 14 year-old who can say the same.

"Mmm-axx" Fang muttered quietly, and I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts. I hushed him soothingly but he insisted on trying to move and talk. I ran a hand tentatively through his air and he relaxed, and I couldn't' help but sighing in relief. I gazed down at him tenderly.

"…you so need a bath…" I murmured teasingly and I was delighted to see Fang grin dazedly from my lap.

He seemed to curl in a very un-Fang-like way towards my hand that was running through his hair, making a brief noise of appreciation and content.

"Ooddd…Ouu…nivv…meehh…argh!...batt…?..."

I almost started laughing, but bit my lip and stared down at Fang in surprise.

One—I'd actually understood what that meant. Go me!

Two—that must've meant Fang was slowly getting better. Go Fang!

Thirdly—

"…did you just ask me if I would give you the bath?!" I asked him, incredulous.

Fang let out a weak laugh (which came out as a wheezy cough) and a tiny grin graced his lips.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing this time, the sound echoing loudly off of the rock walls.

I was so happy, I didn't feel embarrassed or awkward in the least, just happy know that I was positive that Fang was getting better.

Well, he'd gotten his sense of humor back, anyway….

"Mmmax-…Nn-oooo…blo-dodod…." he muttered to me, almost pleadingly.

I winced when I realised he had said 'blood' and I pulled away slightly. I tried to see if I had gotten blood on him or if the lovely smell of my eau-de-bleeding-side was grossing him out.

(To my huge surprise,) it wasn't.

"Nno…an—blooddeee…." He started, but I cut him off.

"Fang… shh shh, don't try to speak…" I quickly hushed, but he didn't listen. Fang coughed violently and I quickly gave him more water, and put a hand in his forehead worriedly when I felt that he was really hot. (As in fever hot, not appealingly-hot for those of you who couldn't tell.)

"Max..." he groaned out hoarsely, and I was surprised when he spoke my name clearly. It was faint and his voice was hoarse, but he'd spoken normally.

"What's wrong?' I asked him. He grinned weakly as if trying to say, I'm dirty-and-bruised-all-over-not-to-mention-I'm-thirsty-and-you're-asking-me-what's-wrong?.

(Trust me; you learn to read Fang's expressions over time.)

"The blo-od…ish…nauuutt…" Fang swallowed thickly before continuing.

"…nauuutt yoou…."

I starred at him in surprise, not sure that I'd heard him right and not wanting to ask him to repeat it since his voice sounded really weak.

"Did you…just say that all the blood is not from me?..." I asked cautiously. Fang's eyes brightened a little and he smirked in response.

…Ummm, I'll take that as a 'yes.'

But if Fang says that the blood isn't mine, I thought in confusion. Then, well, where on earth did it come from!?...

* * *

_--gasp--_

The blood isn't Max's ?

_-- CK fakes innocence --_

Hmmm...that's a twist...I wonder whose (or what's) blood that is?...


	24. Fang's Sacrifice For Us

Holy smokies...

I didn't realise that I've been gone for...for well... like...ever. LOL

Sorry about that guys, but I'm back now.

...And, I brought a new chapter with me as an apology.

And, I've decided to personalise my responses as another part of my apology... but I had to put that on a seperate chapter-thing. I've had 4 PAGES OF REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER 23 ALONE!!!!! So writing personalised responses to all of them would've taken up a whole lotta space on here and delayed you all from the new chapter.

I hope you all like the chapter, and I'm so sorry!

_--CK pulls her best Bambi eyes and frowns sadly--_

Please forgive me? Please please please!?

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 24

"All that blood over there...isn't mine?" I repeated, and his smirk widened. A wave of panic went through me.

" Fang...is that your blood over there on the floor?!"

Fang frowned and grunted hoarsely in his throat, which I took as a 'no.'

"Where…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say. Fang weakly shifted and craned his neck to try and get more water. I quickly gave it to him.

He swallowed it quick and fluently, and I found myself starring suddenly at his throat as the water slipped down it.

It was amazing how just watching Fang swallow made me feel dizzy with liking -- the way his Adam's apple dipped slightly as he drank, the way he stretched out his olive-skinned, flawless neck, and the way his eyes fluttered closed with relief as he drank the cool water.

I could only stare at him in wonder, hardly believing that he looked so….so….hot, while he was doing something as simple as drinking water.

I blushed in embarrassment at the thought and mentally hit myself when realised what I was doing.

The word 'obsessive' floated through my mind, and I quickly shook my head to get rid of the weird thoughts that were swirling through my head.

Note to self: No drooling over Fang…well, at least, not while he's looking. (Hehehe….)

"You're nut…bleedin'…" Fang said through laboured breaths.

"The blood….i'nt yours…it's an …animal's…you may've hurt yoursel'v dogh…."

I looked at him, both impressed and confused. That would explain why I felt fine and yet I had blood all over me…

"So that big puddle of blood over there is animal blood? And I just so happened to have fallen into it and got it all over me, so now the Flock thinks I'm bleeding?..."

Fang nodded once at me in response.

Wow, ok-ay.

"How do you know all that?" I asked him, a grin of relief creeping onto my face.

Fang's face suddenly hardened and he turned stiffly away from me.

I tensed in confusion.

"I uhh…I accidental--" Fang turned away from me as if ashamed and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I….accidentally…well…" Fang seemed to stumble over his words in an unusual way.

"I...I killed it…" Fang whispered out, his voice hoarse and low.

I froze in shock.

"You….ki—" I couldn't get the word out of my mouth I was so stunned.

Fang had killed it!? As in…it was dead?...he'd actually killed something with his bare hands?!….

"My teeth…." Fang muttered, and I turned to him in surprise. He quickly turned away from my questioning gaze.

"You wondered outloud…if I killed it with my bare hands..."

I winced at the mistake.

"It was my…uhh…fangs, I guess…" Fang muttered sheepishly, his voice quiet in shame.

"I…didn't even see what it was…I just dove for it and well….bit it…" he seemed to flush in mortification and his throat got hoarser as he spoke.

"When did you kill it?" I asked him, stunned. The blood I had apparently 'fallen into' and gotten all over me was fresh blood—it was still wet and it still smelled like a clean cut.

"……." Fang didn't answer.

"Fang..." I said, in my best warning tone.

"……."

"Fang!..."

"…..yesterday."

I tensed in horror, but quickly relaxed myself before Fang could notice.

"Ah, I see…" I said as calmly as I could, but inside I was buzzing with adrenaline and nervousness. I mean, he had killed something!

Suddenly I realised something confusing that made me turn to Fang.

"But wait… that means that you had to have been in this cave yesterday…." I said in realisation. "How does that add up!? The Flock and I have been in this cave for almost a week now! How did you?..."

Fang looked down, but a faint ghost of a smirk spread over his lips.

"….but you left last night. The rain, remember?... I watched you guys leave to find a drier place to sleep from below and safer you…left, I went up to the cave and slept there—"

"What!?" I shouted. "This cave was flooded with at least a foot of water last night! And what do you mean you knew where we were all along and yet you didn't come tell us!? You stupid jerk!" I yelled at him, punching him in the arm.

He grunted and I realised too late that Fang was still hurt (oops!) but he seemed okay when he opened his eyes again.

"I couldn't…" Fang defended weakly, a silent beg of forgiveness in his eyes. His deep, beautiful brown eyes —

Snap out of it, Max! You're supposed to be mad at him! I quickly scolded myself and shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"Uhh…what?" was my oh-so intelligent response to that.

He smirked at me, as if he silently knew what I had been thinking. I blushed a little and quickly turned my head so he wouldn't see, pretending to hear something that really wasn't there.

That jerk…stupid, good-looking jerk…stupid, good-looking jerk that knows I can't stay mad at him for longer than five minutes…but a jerk all the same!...

"Why not?" I shot back coolly, and then secretly grinned at how well my voice had come out.

"I was afraid…" he confessed and my eyes widened. "No…I terrified that I'd hurt you again….that I'd k—" Fang cut off, unable to say the word. I turned just a little bit, curious to hear him.

"….I was afraid…that my bloodlust would get the better of me and that I'd…I'd do to you guys what I did to that animal…"

As soon as Fang mention 'bloodlust' I couldn't help but whip around.

"WHAT!?" I shouted and I saw Fang wince from in my lap. I would've mouthed the word 'sorry' to him but my jaw was hanging in disbelief.

"What the heck do you mean 'your bloodlust'!?"

Fang looked weakly but swiftly up at me, with a look that clearly questioned my sanity.

"Max…I did this for you…it's been…tearing me apart, to be apart from the Flock…but I wasn't gonna let my bloodlust—"

"Yeah yeah, I heard you!" I snapped, more harshly than I meant. "What do you mean by the bloodlust!?" I repeated.

Fang's brow furrowed in concern and a slight spark of confusion.

"Max…you mean you never figured it out…after five days?"

"Figure out what!?" I questioned, or pleaded was more like it.

"Max," Fang sighed out, "the only reason I've been gone for so long is that I couldn't get rid of my bloodlust…I didn't want to come back if I knew that I would endanger you guys…I'm not that cruel….and I told you before, I'd kill myself if I ever hurt you guys…"

Realisation suddenly hit me like a punch to the gut.

"…I almost did…" Fang muttered quietly, which had obviously not been for my ears but I snapped my head down to meet his in fear.

What did he mean, he almost killed himself!?! He better not have!!!!

"Max...I've been in bloodlust for the past five days…didn't you realise that?..." Fang said.

….oh.

I couldn't move I was so stunned. He was telling me that the one kiss we had at the School—where'd he cut me open—had been enough to put him into bloodlust for five days!?.

Umm….wow, I must be a better kisser than I thought.

Fang grinned faintly and let out a wheezy, tired laugh.

"I'll take that as a no…" he muttered.

I was too surprise to reply or to be angry at him anymore.

He'd forced himself to stay away from us so that he couldn't hurt us!?...

…That (insert a nice word -- for once -- here) idiot.

Minus the fact that all of us had been completely worried and paranoid about him the entire time, he'd tried to keep us safe from himself. And it was the most thoughtful thing he'd ever done. Awww.

"How?" I wondered outloud. "How did you stay in bloodlust for five days? That's…oh never mind…"

My Voice had told me before that bloodlust could last for seconds to days depending on how strong it was. So obviously Fang had gotten a big-case of bloodlust if it lasted for almost a week.

"I dunno..." he mumbled. "I think, though, that it was something in that injection I got…most times I can stop myself from kissing you, but that time I just…snapped. Your scent seemed to be about a hundred times stronger and I was…well..." he trailed off uncertainly and I tried to make myself grin.

"Hungry?" I teased. He smirked weakly to my relief, but shook his head and frowned in deep thought.

"No…more of like…I was hungry, I guess…but only for you…it was like I was…" An amused spark of light came into Fang's eyes and he chuckled to himself weakly.

I frowned, getting the feeling that I was being made fun of without realising it.

"You what?" I asked defensively. Fang cocked his head to stare up at me piercingly.  
I got shivers as he starred at me.

"I was craving you…" he admitted and I felt myself blush. I quickly tried op stop from blushing, but Fang had already seen my cheeks colour so I glared at him instead.

"Ha-ha...very funny…you're telling me I'm so pretty you wanted to eat me?" I said sceptically. Trust me; I'm anything but pretty and the farthest thing from being girly.

Fang's smirk widened.

"Something like that" he said, and I found myself blushing harder and my eyes widening.  
Fang thought I was pretty? How on earth did that make sense!? And we needed to get back on topic…

"You don't understand, do you, Max?.." Fang said quietly al of a sudden. "That could have been one of you guys that I ki—hurt… instead of that animal…" Fang said, and my eyes widened.

I hadn't thought of that.

Holy smokes, this bloodlust stuff really was dangerous.

And my Voice had been right all along.

"But I stayed…away…cause—" Fang said, but I cut him off.

"You wanted to wait out your bloodlust before you came back…so you couldn't hurt us ..." I realised in a tiny voice.

Fang nodded in response.

"So you're officially out of bloodlust now?" I said.

Fang frowned and mumbled a quick reply. "If your Voice was telling the truth…"

I felt a weight relax from my shoulders that I didn't know I had been holding.

Fang was out of bloodlust for good.

Now, all I had to do was wait out mine.

Thank you, to whoever it is that's up above! (Preferably someone up above that isn't another human-avian—not that I'm being picky.)

Fang suddenly broke out into a violent fit of coughs and I pushed the sweatshirt filled with water towards him. I was surprised but relieved when he drank it all in just a few minute and then asked for another one.

He must've have been dehydrated (just like Dr. Iggy said) if he was this thirsty.

He went through three of our sweatshirts filled with water before he seemed satisfied.  
I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by a cheerful voice.

"Ma-ax!" I heard Nudge call out and a second later I looked up to see my Flock landing in the cave again.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**

And by that I mean continued very soon.

I can't believe it took me a month to post this... a whole month I've gone without posting here!...

Oops. LOL.

But anywho, I hope you guys liked it!

And thanks so much for the wonderful reviews!!!!!!!

**:-D**


	25. MY Flock and MY Family

Here you are my wonderful, patient, lovable, kind readers!...

...Wow, that was alot of compliments all rolled into one. LOL.

Here is the SECOND-LAST chapter of this fic. I'm so depressed right now. My first fic -- and pretty much my best fic -- is coming to an end.

_-- sad, tired sigh --_

_-- CK goes into a little hole of depression --_

Oh, and here's the chapter guys. I hope you like it.

_Love from, CK_

* * *

Chapter 25

I looked up to see my Flock landing in the cave again.

Ooh! And they had buckets this time. Very high-tec.

...well, "high-tec" for us anyway.

Nudge placed her bucket in front of me quickly and told Fang that they'd brought tons of water for him. Iggy made a quick hand motion behind Nudge's back to ask if Fang was okay.

I muttered a quiet, 'yeah' in reply and Iggy grinned in relief.

Fang nodded at her in thanks and a small smile crept onto my face.

"Allow me" I said with a sweet smile, moving the bucket closer to him and Fang glared at me when he caught on.

"Max…" he hissed lowly but I grinned happily.

Fang's eyes widened for a split second before his glare intensified.

"Maximum Ride! Don't you!!!----"

I grabbed his hair and dunked his head under the water.

Everyone in my Flock's jaws dropped and they gawked at me like I was psychotic. I just laughed and pulled a spluttering Fang back up, ignoring the stunned stares of my Flock.

"He's much better, trust me" I said. "He's not seriously hurt or anything, and he just needs some more water. He already went through three of the—"

"Max" Angel said, pointing at Fang.

I had just enough time to see Fang glare at me murderously before I suddenly found my head pushed under the water of the bucket in front of me.

And it was cold! Really, really cold!

I felt a hand on the back of my head hold me there for a few seconds before I was pulled up, gasping at a grinning and very smug-looking Fang.

He was obviously feeling much better.

"Fang is better?" Nudge asked hopefully. I nodded and she grinned happily. I could tell she was relieved—we all were. Angel ran over and knelt beside me, placing her little bucket down and leaning into to hug a wet Fang.

Fang seemed surprised, but I saw his eyes soften for her and he weakly hugged her back.

Angel looked up at him through sheepish blue eyes and then kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"I'm glad you're okay. We missed you..." she mumbled and I saw Fang give her a tiny smile. My heart completely melted right then and there.  
"Me too, Angel..." he murmured to her, and to my complete shock ( and teary-eyed joy) he pulled her into him and kissed the top of her head gently.

Just like a father would.

I felt tears well up in my eyes and unfortunately a few slipped out.

Crap, I'm turning into such a sap lately!

Fang and Angel; both noticed when a few tears accidentally spilled down my cheeks and I flushed, quickly turning away and wiped them off in complete embarrassment.

I tentatively looked back to see Fang looking at me knowingly. I looked away again in fear that I'd start crying again.

Gazzy knelt down on the other side of him and hugged him too. The two boys hugged awkwardly but I knew that it had been deep. Gazzy pulled away and looked sheepishly at Fang.

"You're not gonna kiss me on the head, are you?" Gazzy asked in an embarrassed and reluctant tone.

Fang let out a low chuckle and we all laughed lightly.

"No, you're too cool for that now" Fang said and Gazzy smiled at the compliment.

Nudge ran over and almost through herself at Fang, hugging him tightly and he kissed her head like he had Angel's.

Then Nudge gently before pulled away before she ranted to him about how we'd missed him like crazy, how he'd worried us, how Iggy had stepped into his place to look after us, about how I'd been a miserable mess since he left, and about how she'd heard me mumbling his name in my sleep every night.

I blushed bright red at this and refused to meet Fang's eyes.

Who me? Miss him? Che!...whatever…

But I knew that Fang was smirking at me and starring at me from the corner of his eye.

Iggy came last and the two guys locked fists and hugged awkwardly but we all knew it was one of those I've-gotta-look-cool-so-I'm not-gonna-hug-you-or-anything-but-I-really-did-miss-you type of guy-to-guy moments.

What can I say? Guys are strange that that.

"We missed you, man" was all Iggy said, but it was enough to make my eyes water all over again.

"The bloodlust caused this, didn't it?" Iggy said out of nowhere and everyone froze. Gazzy scrunched up nose and turned to Iggy questioningly.

"What's bloodlust?" he asked. Iggy nodded in our direction.

"Ask Max or Fang. They know" he said.

Iggy turned to me again. "But the bloodlust did this to you both, am I right?"

"Well…not, umm…it…yeah…" I admitted shamefully. Iggy sighed at me and ran a hand through his hair.

"Max, you need to tell us about this bloodlust stuff. Looks what's done to you and Fang!" Iggy said in a voice I'd never heard him use before. "You've kept us in the dark for too long. Tell us."

"I dunno…I—"

"Now" Iggy said, and I was surprised at how serious he sounded. I hesitated at it.

"Max..." Iggy said in a warning tone, but seemed uncomfortable as he tried to sound fierce and demanding towards me.

I sighed and then looked apologetically into the eyes of the Flock.

My Flock.

"I'm sorry I've kept this bloodlust stuff from you guys for so long…" I mumbled sheepishly to them.

So I took a deep breath, and finally told them everything...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Well... looks like Max is finally gonna spill everything to her Flock about the bloodlust... and about time to! LOL. 

But on the other hand, I'm really depressed guys...

**THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST CHAPTER.**

Major bummer...I LOVED writing this fic and soon it'll be all over!

...it's my baby...

**:-(**

But then again, I guess all babies have to grow up and leave their parents eventually...even so, it still makes me sad.

_-- gloomy sigh --_

But on the good side, I hoped you liked the chapter!

I know it was a litle shorter than the others, but the last chapter willl be longer to make up for it!

**:-)**


	26. PURE HAPPINESS

WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

_--CK wipes her tears and glomps all of her readers--_

IT'S THE END GUYS!!!!

_--sniff sniff--_

Thank you so much to all of you for reading this!

Hugs and kisses to you all. Thanks again!

And I really hope you all enjoyed this fic as much as I did.

_Deep love from, CK_

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 26 : The End**

By the time I finished ranting over everything that had happened (with the bloodlust, Lissa, Ari, Jeb, Fang, myself, my Voice, the School, yada yada yada), it was already dark out and the sky had turned a dark, rich purple as the sun finished setting.

There were stars peeking out from the darkness as the last bits of light faded from the sky, leaving nothing but the stars and the lights of the towns and cities far, far below us.

….and my Flock all had their jaws on the floor.

(Not literally, of course. I don't want my Flock to be disassembled.)

"WHAT!? You meant that you and Fang have been in this bloodlust stuff for a long time and YOU NEVER TOLD US!?" Gazzy yelled, slamming his hands down on the cave's floor in disbelief.

I shifted guilty in my seat. Gazzy did seem sincerely upset that I hadn't told him.

"I'm sorry" I said (for the forty-second time that day -- not that I've kept count or anything…).

"But I didn't want to drag you guys into it… --"

"So you kept it a secret?" Nudge asked, her brown eyes wide in disbelief.

I shifted awkwardly again under their stares.

"No! Not like a secret…" I quickly said. "I just, well –"

"You just didn't want us to worry or get hurt because of you and Fang. You love us too much and were afraid to get us involved" Angel said from her spot on the floor, and I let go of a tension I never realised that I'd been holding.

"Yeah…" I said, smiling at her. She smiled back at me sweetly and giggled.

Sometimes having a mind-reader in the Flock really came in handy.

I turned to Fang hoping to find some support from him, but saw that he was gulping down the last of the water we'd brought him. He seemed to have been improving over the last few hours (what can I say? We heal fast) but he was still bruised all over and paler than usual.

Fang caught me looking at him and shrugged in a way that said 'I'm fine. You can continue talking'

I nodded in response before picking up where I'd left off.

"Again, I'm so sorry guys. I really am…if I had the chance to tell you before now I would have. But everything was just so messed up in my head, and with trying to keep us all safe from Ari…I'm sorry…I'm really sorry…I'm—"

"It's alright, Max" Nudge cooed reassuringly, before I could apologize again. "We just want to make sure you and Fang are alright now. And…oh my gosh! That must've been so scary for you guys, not knowing when you'd go into bloodlust? Cre-epy. You're so brave...I wish I could be that brave…"

"You already are" I heard Fang say (surprisingly) from behind me. I froze in surprise and strained to listen. "You've seen things no other 11 year old on the planet has…yet everyday you're always smiling and excited…trust me, Nudge, you're braver and stronger than you think…"

Nudge practically beamed at the compliment and flushed a light red with embarrassment and flattery.

Angel turned her head adorably to one side and looked at me.

"Do you want help?" she asked sweetly. I grinned but faltered a little in confusion.

Help with what? I wondered. It was then that I realised that she wasn't looking at me; she was looking past me—behind me, actually.

I turned in confusion to see Fang wincing slightly as he pushed himself onto his feet to try and stand.

"Fang! Careful!" I shouted on instinct and jumped up to catch him if he fell.

But Fang climbed to his feet with seeming ease, and the younger guys cheered in relief. Fang smirked at this before leaning comfortably against the wall.

I smiled at the little guys in relief too, but turned to give a stern look to Fang a moment later when they weren't looking

Fang, you idiot! I silently pleaded to him. Don't hurt yourself even more! Stop trying to make it seem like you're fine and just rest!

He ignored my gaze (even though I knew he could plainly see me) and continued to lean against the wall uncaringly.

I mentally growled when Fang refused to meet my gaze.

Argh! Fang! You're…you're….you're just too dang stubborn sometimes!

It seemed like Fang was completely fine, but years of reading Fang had paid off. I could see that his jaw was set firmly and that his legs were shaking with the effort to stand.

It was obvious that it was from pain and weakness.

It had taken a lot of Fang's strength to haul him to his feet, but I knew that he'd never admit it in front of the younger guys. It was just an unspoken rule between us older kids—keep the young guys safe, fed, warm, and free from our worries (which could wait until later.) The younger guys didn't need to know if we were hurt or scared or depressed…that was our problems and we agreed to keep it tucked away for their sake.

However, over the years, Fang and I had gotten almost too good at that – hence why I ended up having my charming breakdown in Florida…

I broke off from my train of thought and shuddered as the memory of that day on the beach came back to me. Boy, had I been stupid...

And why Fang always ends up getting bandaged last…or once his scars had already formed… I told myself. He refuses to admit he's hurt, because he thinks he holds us back by worrying about him …

I shook my head and finally tore my gaze away from Fang.

He was so stubborn it drove Iggy and me crazy, but he was caring more than anything else.

That's what made Fang…well, Fang.

Fang managed to stand without any problem, and after I made sure the younger guys weren't looking I (as casually as possible) drifted over to him and made sure to catch his eye. I gave him our hand signal for 'are you okay?' and he seemed to stare at me in confusion. I was beginning to feel like an idiot when he suddenly raised up a finger in the universal sign of 'give me a minute'.

I nodded at him in relief and drifted away again.

"So uhh…Max?" Gazzy piped up from the floor, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. That was unlike Gazzy, so I started to worry just a little bit.

"What is it?" I asked him curiously. He looked up at me through bashful blue eyes.

"Umm….does that mean you're Fang's…umm…." he swallowed awkwardly before finishing.

"…you know… _girlfriend_?" Gazzy said timidly, as if he'd just said a swear word.

My eyes widened in complete surprise and I heard Nudge and Angel gasp like they'd just heard the gossip of the century (which in a way, for us, it was.)

I hadn't expected that.

I opened my mouth to quickly reply but was cut off by the one-and-only Nudge Channel.

""What!? Oh my gosh! Ma-ax! That is so sweet!...wait! Oh my gosh!" Nudge suddenly shouted, bouncing in her seat with excitement. "Max! If Fang is your boyfriend now—by the way congratulations! I so knew that you two would end up together one day. Or at least, I always kinda hoped you would…it's like all of us officially have a mom and a dad now, you know? Except you guys are way younger and a lot cooler than any parents. And I love you guys so much, but anyways—If Fang is your boyfriend, does that mean he kissed you!?"

I blushed at this and stumbled for an answer.

How was I supposed to explain that without permanently scarring all my Flock?...hmm…

(Err….one thing I forgot to mention—When I explained all about the bloodlust to my Flock, I'd G-rated the whole story. Of course I could never have lied to my Flock or hid anything from them…but I was not about to tell Angel and Nudge that I'd jumped all over Fang after seeing him step out of the shower without a shirt on. No way...I'm not that horrible of a leader…)

I continued to think of an answer--I couldn't say flat out 'yes' because then Nudge would insist that I tell her everything…not to mention Iggy would never let me live it down…

Oops. Too late. Iggy immediately caught when I hesitated.

"I've been scarred for life" was the immediate response I got from him. I shot him a look that he couldn't see, but it made me feel better anyways.

"Very funny" I shot back at Iggy, trying to stop myself from blushing.

"Eww…" Gazzy said.

"Awww!" Nudge and Angel both squealed.

A need a nice, pretty rock to smack my head against….a very big, nice, pretty rock… I thought to myself.

I opened my mouth to defend myself but was cut off (yet again.)

"So me kissing Max is wrong?" Fang asked emotionlessly from the wall.

"No, but it's awkward" Iggy answered after a pause. "And kinda weird, and it gives me the shivers to even think about it...eww…. just…don't do while I'm around."

"You can't see it" Fang said plainly.

"Yeah, but I have a horrible feeling I'll be able to hear you both making kissing noises" Iggy said before trailing off and shuddering.

Fang smirked.

"Really?"

"Yeah…man, that would be just…" Iggy shuddered again. Fang made noise of understanding in his throat and shrugged.

"Care to test that theory?" Fang asked in a bored tone.

"What?" I said in surprise, completely losing track of the conversation. "Fang, what do you—mph!"

I was suddenly turned around and met with a pair of lips as Fang seemed to appear at my side instantly and he swooped down and kissed me.

And I almost collapsed in mortification.

We were in front of the Flock!!! In front of the little ones! The naïve, innocent little-ones! Young children on the premises! Let's keep this G-rated!...I thought in desperate kind of humour.  
However, all my thoughts trailed away after a moment of Fang kissing me. (Hey, I couldn't help it that Fang's lips felt so warm and tasted so good…)

I heard coos of adoration and shock from behind me.

Fang pulled away after a brief few moments and smirked at my expression (which I was guessing resembled Ari trying to solve a math problem…a.k.a brainless) and he laughed lightly before uttering something quietly so only I could hear.

"What? I'm feeling better. I promise…. And you can stop starring at me now...you look dazed…I'm not that good a kisser, am I?..."

"They just kissed right in front of us didn't they?" Iggy said solemnly, interrupting Fang's dazzling gaze and snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Eww! Yeah!" Gazzy said, his face twisted in a look of disgust and surprise all at once. Iggy sighed in defeat.

"I'm going to go gag in the corner" he said shaking his head as if ashamed of us.

That earned him a playful shove from Fang as he rolled his eyes. Iggy shoved him back, and then Fang shoved him back too, before it eventually turned into a friendly fight between the two guys.  
I would've laughed… if I could've found my voice.

Fang kissing me out of the blue like that (and in front of the Flock!) had my heart thudding in my ears and had momentarily stunned me.

Err….for quite a while actually…

Snap out of it! I finally managed to tell myself through the hazy feel of Fang's warm lips still being on my own. Stop going gaga over him and wake up!...just don't think about Fang…don't think about Fang…don't think about Fang….kissing you…or smiling at you…or his face…with his hair flopping in front of his eyes…or him---oh forget this! It's isn't working!!!

"Max!!!"

I was brought out of my thoughts by a loud cry for help and I tensed, looking around quickly for any sign of danger.

Shoot! Why did I have to get distracted so often!?

I relaxed my stance when I finally saw where it was coming from.

Fang was standing calmly at the other end of the cave with his arm around a flailing Iggy's neck in a sort-of headlock.

"Max!" Iggy called out again. "Get your boyfriend off of me!"

I smirked and walked a little closer, waging my finger and making a disapproving noise.

"Well, that was fast Fang, you're obviously feeling much better…or Iggy's just a weakling..."

'Max!" Iggy yelled out again,. I grinned at him.

"What's the magic word, Iggy?" I asked.

"Please!" Iggy said, still flailing uselessly in Fang's grip.

I pretended to sigh in annoyance.

"Alright…" I said, agreeing to help. I crouched down slightly. "Fang! Fa-ang! Come here boy! Come here!"

I whistled for effect and patted one of my knees like an owner would to call their dog. Fang (on the other hand) was frowning deeply at my teasing.

I whistled again, a little louder.

"Come here, boy! Come here! Who's a good boy? Come here, Fang! Come on!"

"Max…" Fang muttered through clenched teeth and his jaw set firmly. I looked up at him and realised that he looked annoyed, (not to mention a lot stronger and healthier than when he had been leaning against the wall in pain.) But although Fang's jaw seemed tense with annoyance, his eyes were bright with something that looked…well, bad for me.

"Run" was the only response I got from him.

My smile dropped and I whipped around, just in time to see Fang let go of Iggy and run straight for me.

Oh snap!

I took off running as fast as I could to try and suppress the laughter that was building up inside me. The cave was small – meaning no place to run or hide—but hey, I can try can't I?

Before I could even look for a hiding place however, hard, wiry arms wrapped themselves around my waist and I was (literally) picked up off the ground and thrown over Fang's shoulder.

I frowned in annoyance as my hands collided with his back, Fang still gripping my waist and holding my ankles to stop me from kicking.

…Smarty-pants.

"That's not fair— I didn't have enough time to run!" I defended.

"Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it" was Fang's reply.

I tried to think of a response to that, but couldn't. So I settled with the old fashioned line…  
"Meanie" I shot at him coolly.

Fang turned to look over his shoulder and give me a disbelieving look. One that (in Fang-speak) translated into why-in-the-world-are-you-calling-me-a-meanie? No-one-says-that-except-kids-in-the-third-grade look.

"Can you put me down now!?" I retorted.

"Nope"

"But you…you're weak!"

Fang shot me an angry, offended look.

Okay, lesson learned…never insult the guy who's holding you up…

I quickly continued from where I'd left off.

"You just recovered from dehydration like—what? Four hours ago!? And I'm as heavy as a ton of bricks! Remember? You said that, so you can out me down now…if you want…okay, just put me down now!"

"That was in the air while trying to fly. Here, you weigh too little…" Fang responded.

"Too little!? So you want me to get gain weight?..."

"Pretty much"

"Why?"

"Because if you turn into one of those anorexic type girls I'm gonna have to force feed you…"

"Fang, I'm not turning anorexic! We've been on the run for years, we just escaped the School, and I've been eating about seven hot dogs a day!"

"…That's it?"

"What do you mean that's it!? Find me a human girl that eats seven hot dogs a day and then talk to her about being anorexic!"

Fang's only response was to smirk and chuckle at me.

I expected a smart reply from Fang, so I was a little surprised when he simply put me down. Fang walked off calmly and leaned against the wall again—awaiting my instructions to The Flock.  
I cleared my throat to grab my Flock's attention before taking a moment to think over what I was saying.

"Well…were all finally back together again. Thank gods…" I added to myself as an afterthought.  
I heard everyone laugh lightly at that and I couldn't help but relax.

"Umm…first off," I continued. "I'm so sorry that I got you all stuck back in the School…and that I never told you about the bloodlust Fang and I were going through…and secondly, I'm really sorry that all we've been eating for the last few days has been hot dogs…or in your case Fang, some type of wild animal that you hunted down like -- well, like a hawk..."

I heard more laughter after that comment and I grinned to myself.

"And I'm so thankful and so happy…I don't think I'll ever be able to describe it…how happy I am that we're all together and safe again. You guys mean the world to me…and I'm so glad you're all still here…even after all the times I've screwed up as a leader and a mom…and yelled at you for teasing me about my cooking…"

(To my horror) I felt tears of relief and pure joy prick my eyes. I quickly blinked them back but my Flock were all giving me sympathetic, knowing, loving looks—and that just made the tears come even faster.

I quickly wiped them away with the back of my sweatshirt.

"So yeah…and as relieved and excited as I am that were all back together as our undefeatable Flock of six, we have to get back to business unfortunately…see, the bad news is that…well, we gotta fly south for the winter."

"Max…it's only October" Gazzy told me slowly, as if I were stupid. I burst out grinning at him and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yeah…but we need to get as far away from the School as we can before winter hits. Meaning, we need to leave this cave…tonight…as in now..." I trailed off when I saw looks of disappointment and disbelief cross over my Flock's faces.

"But Ma-ax!" The all protested.

"Hey, hey…" I began, cutting in gently. "I don't blame you guys for not wanting to fly—it's dark, and it might be creepy to fly at night. But we need to find another hideout. We've stayed here for too long…."

I saw my Flock exchange glances between one another before Angel turned to me innocently, her blue eyes curious and reluctant to move.

"Will we sleep in another hotel?" she asked.

Uhhh….are you paying? I felt like asking, but stopped myself.

"Sorry, but its back to the good old outdoors!" I told them, rising to my feet and trying to grin enthusiastically. "The outdoors with the fresh air and the sea and the flowers…" I trailed off.

"And the spiders and the bugs and the dirt..." Fang muttered, smirking when I shot him a disapproving look.

As predicted, the response from Nudge was an—

"EWW!!! Gross!" Nudge said, closing her eyes and sticking out her tongue.

"Ha-ha! Nudge! You look like a cat when you do that!" Gazzy laughed out, pointing at Nudge's face as she returned it to normal.

Nudge's disgust faded in an instant to be replaced with flattery.

"Really?...Aww, thank you Gazzy! I've always wanted a cat—did you know that, Max?" she said, turning to me excitedly.

Uh-oh… I thought, smiling to myself just a little.

And now ladies and gentlemen, live from your local studio -- it's time for your daily Nudge-channel update.

"I've always wanted to have like a little baby kitten of my own to raise! Like one of those soft, fluffy grey ones...or maybe white, but they're so cute! And their so tiny but warm and soft and they're totally obedient too...well, sort-of…but they're just so sweet, aren't they? Well, except for those cats that actually eat birds...but if I had one, I'd make sure she never ate birds! I'm part-bird and my kitten would be so smart she'd know not to eat birds because that's bad! And even though she's a cat she could be like, the protector of all the birds or something! Oh my gosh! Could you imagine how adorable that would be!?...Oh my gosh! Sometimes, I wish I were part cat instead of part bird…imagine how cool that would be? You would be all graceful and pretty and maybe have sharp claws..."

"I like you as a part-bird though, Nudge!" Iggy quickly chimed in.

….and back to you in the news room, Iggy, I thought to myself.

"As a bird you can fly, and you're still graceful and pretty Nudge, not to mention as a bird you can travel so much faster and do so many things cats couldn't ever do…"

I raised an eyebrow. Impressive -- Iggy knows how to stop Nudge's rants from getting too out of control. Very impressive.

Nudge smiled at the intended compliment and cocked her head, as if thinking over what he'd just said. Finally she smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess you're right! Thanks Iggy! I don't want to be part-cat anymore! I love being part-bird! I don't even know why I said I wanted to change in the first place… I love my wings too; I couldn't ever get rid of them. And they're such a pretty colour, don't you guys think? I've always thought my wings looked like that colour of coffee…uhh, mocha, is it? Anyways they're—"

"-- Absolutely beautiful, Nudge" I cut in, smiling at her. And I meant it.

"And since you love your wings so much, how about we all try using them again? … We can fly through the air and have some fun! It seems like it's been forever since we last flew… And imagine how amazing it'll be to fly tonight! With stars above our heads…the wind in our hair and our feathers…"

"…Max and Fang making out in the dark" Iggy interrupted (yet again), an amused and cheeky grin plastered to his face.

That comment earned Iggy a smack over the head from Fang.

Angel turned to me with her nose scrunched up in confusion.

"Max…what does 'making out' mean?" she asked curiously. I quickly blocked my thoughts from her and grinned in reassurance.

"Nothing important…just a thing…you know, that you say sometimes… as a joke when you're uhh...older…"

"Oh!... Okay…" Angel replied, seeming satisfied with my answer.

I almost laughed in relief but stopped myself. It was hard to believe with Angel being able to read minds, control people with her mind, and all that jazz, that she was still only 6 …or 7…I almost forgot that her birthday was coming up soon…

"What!?" Iggy said jokingly, raising his hands in front of him in defence as he heard Fang growling at him. "You know you want to…"

That earned him smack number two.

"Oww! It's not my fault that you like her!" Iggy protested, laughing gleefully.

That earned him smack number three…and smack number four from me. (What? I was feeling left out...)

The younger ones laughed at this, and I smiled before returning to my task—trying to convince the younger ones that we needed to find a new hideout.

"I know you don't want to go anywhere right now—but we have to unless we want to wake-up to a group of Erasers telling us 'good morning'. And think of how much fun it would be! We've never taken a night-flight before!" I said, knowing that would get the younger guys to fly.

"I thought we had…" Angel said in confusion.

I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by Fang.

"We've flown at dusk and sometimes as the stars come out…but never an entire flight while the sun was down" Fang added smoothly. "We usually use that time to sleep, but it would be pretty cool to fly tonight. There'd be no rules…you can all do whatever you want as far as I care, cause no-one can see you or your wings through the dark..."

I saw an ecstatic look pass over Nudge's face and I saw Angel and Gazzy jump to their feet and unfurl their wings, now incredibly excited to fly again.

I didn't blame them – I was craving a good flight right now. We'd been stuck in this cave for days…. I was anxious to unfurl my wings and it was about time we had some fun! (Preferably the kind of 'fun' that didn't involve beating up Erasers that were trying to rip us to pieces…but that was always fun too.)

I grinned in thanks at Fang and he nodded silently in response.

"That sounds so awesome!" Gazzy said.

"Yeah…and it'd be so pretty to fly under the stars. Can we, Max? Please?" Angel piped in. Both my younger ones were starring at me with their big, blue eyes wide and hopeful and their little faces looking so angelic and happy…

…could I say anything but 'yes' to them?

They all cheered at this.

"Awesome!" Gazzy yelled again, pumping his fist into the air.

"I gotta admit, it sounds great. But..." Iggy said trailing of, his trademark grin on his face.  
"I'm even blinder in the dark than I am during the day. Gasman? Do you mind helping me?..."

"Are you kidding!?" Gazzy yelled, looking almost outraged. "I'll hold your hand the entire way, Iggy! I swear I won't let go! It's okay, you'll be safe with me!" he said proudly. I stifled a laugh.

"Thanks buddy. I always knew you I could count on you …" Iggy said grinning. Gazzy's face practically lit up with joy.

Iggy held out his pale hand which Gazzy immediately took and dragged him to the lip of the cave. Angel suddenly ran over to Nudge, feeling neglected.

""Nudge..." Angel began, in that wanting yet adorable voice she has. "Will you fly with me? I don't wanna go alone..." Angel said in disappointment.

Nudge beamed at this, taking Angel's hand and twirling her around, the two girls laughing as they continued to spin.

"Oh my gosh! It'll be awesome, Angel!" Nudge exclaimed, stopping to put Angel down on the floor. Angel continued to laugh and nod in encouragement.

"We can fly out together while Ig and Gazzy do their thing and we can look at the stars! Oh my gosh! Imagine how pretty they must look! I bet you we could even try to touch them if we got close enough?" Nudge said.

"Can you really touch stars!?" Angel said, her naive blue eyes wide with hope. Nudge nodded and Angel gasped excitedly.

"I'm pretty sure you can!" Nudge said. "Back when we were staying with Anne…my homeroom teacher at that normal school told us something about believing in your dreams and you can actually touch the stars!...at least, I think that's what she said…but if we want to we can definitely touch them…I mean, we have wings! That's gotta help us even more than the human kids right? And if they can do it, so can we!"

My heart practically melted into a mushy puddle of adoration right then and there. Technically, it was impossible to touch the stars…but I wouldn't have told them that even to save the world.  
Forget my destiny, I just wanted this.

Their expressions were just too precious… Iggy and Gazzy grinning…Nudge and Angel smiling…I caught Fang looking adoringly at them just like I was (but from the corner of his eye, of course. He had a reputation of being cool to uphold)… and I wished more than anything I could've frozen the moment…

Angel's eyes lit up at Nudge's words.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Angel chorused in pure excitement, pulling on Nudge's hand and the two girls dashed past me and the guys before jumping out of the cliff.

I opened my mouth to yell out a warning but I stopped as a warm hand placed itself on my shoulder.

"Don't" Fang said calmly in my ear.

A second later I saw Nudge and Angel swoop up gracefully to look in on us all, waiting patiently for us to do the same.

"Come on, Max! Let's go!" my little Angel called out to me, Nudge's hand gripping hers tightly yet gently.

"Slowpokes!" Nudge teased, which got Gazzy and Iggy into the air and I turned to Fang as he passed me to join the others.

Fang smirked. "I told you…don't worry… the kids know what they're doing and they won't get themselves hurt…just trust them…Mom…" Fang added with an afterthought, and I felt myself relax at the words.

"Are you sure you're strong enough to fly?" I asked him casually, and I hoped my voice wasn't betraying how worried I was. (Yes, I am a sucker when it comes to my Flock.)

Fang didn't respond, just unfurled his dark wings and leapt into the night sky, practically blending in with his midnight-black wings and dark clothes.

"A cold-slice of pizza and a warm Coke say that I beat you there" Fang said, but I could see amusement hidden in his eyes.

Okay, now it's on!

I was stunned but happy at Fang's words. Apparently he was all better.

"Where did you get pizza and pop!?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Bought it..."

"Where?"

"In town…"

"With what?" I asked, but I already knew the answer. Fang's dark eyes gleamed at me with amusement.

"Your credit card…"

"You nicked my credit card!?"

"Before we escaped the School. But remember, Iggy did it first…"

"Fang!"

"He started it…"

"Did not!" Iggy defended quickly.

"Fa-ang!" I yelled and ran after him.

I leapt out of the cave and saw Fang pull away from me just a second before we touched, giving me a tiny smile that made my heart race.

3-2-1! I told myself and unfurled my wings, feeling the wonderfully familiar tug of air underneath me and the wind through my hair. I stopped for a moment, deciding on instinct to close my eyes and just hover in mid-air to let it all sink in.

This is freedom… I thought happily.

When I finally opened my eyes again, Fang was hovering closer to me, still smiling, and my Flock was practically dancing around me with uncontained enthusiasm.

No…this is… happiness…pure happiness… I finally decided.

And with that… (and a slice of cold pizza and warm pop on the line)….

….we all took flight.

**END.

* * *

:-D **

LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!!!

And the SEQUEL will be out soon!

:-D :-D 


	27. Sequel & Authors Note

After months of finishing this fic and moving on – with pride, because this was my baby! (X-D) -- it occurred to me, I never posted up here….

**THE SEQUEL IS UP !**

LOL. Just in case anyone who wants to read the sequel to bloodlust --- known now as "Bloodlust 2 : Queen of Hearts" --- didn't realize that it's already up!!!

I hope you'll like my second Bloodlust fic as much as the first.

(:-D)

LOVE TO YOU ALL !

_-- From, CK_


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